backroom

1 of 2

adjective

back·​room ˈbak-ˈrüm How to pronounce backroom (audio)
-ˈru̇m
variants or back-room
: made or operating in an inconspicuous way : behind-the-scenes
backroom deals
a backroom politician

back room

2 of 2

noun

1
: a room situated in the rear
2
: the meeting place of a directing group that exercises its authority in an inconspicuous and indirect way

Examples of backroom in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Adjective
Pascal Planque, Mike Stowell and new first team coach Adam Sadler complete the new-look Foxes backroom staff for the upcoming season. SI.com, 1 July 2018 After five months of backroom horse-trading and all-night arm twisting, Angela Merkel faces one last obstacle to achieving a stable government in her fourth term as German chancellor. Griff Witte, Washington Post, 28 Feb. 2018
Noun
While his dad runs the front of the house (Emilio Sr. often can be found sitting at the first table to the right of the entrance with his crew), Emilio Jr. manages the back room of the restaurant where the celebrities can go for privacy. Brianne Tracy, Peoplemag, 22 Mar. 2024 That intimacy is only accentuated by director Emilie Whelan’s compelling staging, mere inches from the audience in OTP’s performance space in the back room of an Oakland art supplies store. Sam Hurwitt, The Mercury News, 19 Mar. 2024 He was led to a back room by an employee, and Morales soon followed through the door that Cuellar held open in the back of the business. Nathan Solis, Los Angeles Times, 21 Feb. 2024 Dunn found herself in a noisy back room at the tavern, perched on a barstool, surrounded by Smokes and Warren’s friends and family, trying to make sense of all that had just occurred. Jennifer Gonnerman, The New Yorker, 16 Feb. 2024 Though corner bars were limited to male customers, women were sometimes allowed in their back rooms to attend community and union meetings. Amanda Yeager, Baltimore Sun, 31 Jan. 2024 While not exactly financial windfalls, the resulting notoriety as a bonafide Warhol Superstar earned her Richard Avedon photo spreads in Vogue and entry into the back room of Max’s Kansas City, the late-night eatery where the hippest downtown denizens congregated. Jordan Runtagh, Peoplemag, 25 Feb. 2024 Big investments A week before students were set to return from summer break, the 110 staffers of North Texas Collegiate Academy, a public charter school for pre-kindergartners through eighth-graders, met in a back room of Zera Coffee. Tribune News Service, The Mercury News, 20 Feb. 2024 The bill, Moyle said, makes it so these types of sales aren’t done in a back room. Nick Rosenberger, Idaho Statesman, 9 Feb. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'backroom.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

Adjective

1911, in the meaning defined above

Noun

1592, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of backroom was in 1592

Dictionary Entries Near backroom

Cite this Entry

“Backroom.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/backroom. Accessed 28 Mar. 2024.

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