as in to betray
to be unfaithful or disloyal to
knew what it felt like to be backstabbed by a so-called friend
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Recent Examples of backstab
One of them tried to backstab the hero, the other one helped raise the terrible, evil god that the hero had to defeat.
—
Lisa Deaderick, San Diego Union-Tribune, 22 Nov. 2025
Friends can lie, colleagues can backstab, anyone can die in any number of brutal ways.
—Angie Han, HollywoodReporter, 28 Aug. 2025
Many of the women are status-obsessed and needy, quick to backstab other women to reach the top.
—Literary Hub
june 21, Literary Hub, 21 June 2023
Lisa Deaderick, San Diego Union-Tribune, 22 Nov. 2025
Friends can lie, colleagues can backstab, anyone can die in any number of brutal ways.
—Angie Han, HollywoodReporter, 28 Aug. 2025
Many of the women are status-obsessed and needy, quick to backstab other women to reach the top.
—Literary Hub
june 21, Literary Hub, 21 June 2023
Recent Examples of Synonyms for backstab
betray
Verb
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Its accounts of outsize personalities, judges’ infighting, culturally insensitive photo shoots, manipulative producing, network executives betraying producers who in turn betrayed talent—all of this comes standard with tales from the annals of the entertainment industry.—
Judy Berman,
Time,
18 Feb. 2026
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Perhaps the people who should resign are the representatives and senators at the state and national levels who have taken the same oath and betray it by turning a blind eye to the unconstitutional acts committed every day by a lawless regime.—
Letters to the Editor,
Hartford Courant,
17 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Backstab.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/backstab. Accessed 22 Feb. 2026.
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