backstairs

adjective

ˈbak-ˌsterz How to pronounce backstairs (audio)
Definition of backstairsnext
as in clandestine
undertaken or done so as to escape being observed or known by others an influential Washington lobbyist who has been involved in a number of backstairs deals to limit regulation of financial institutions

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of backstairs And in North Carolina, a boyish trial lawyer with jury-pleasing charm (John Edwards) knocked off Lauch Faircloth, a GOP senator who played a backstairs role in getting Kenneth Starr appointed as independent counsel. — Walter Shapiro, The New Republic, 6 June 2019
Recent Examples of Synonyms for backstairs
  1. clandestine
  2. undercover
  3. underground
  4. covert
  5. private
Adjective
  • Bridgers’ tour restricts phones, so the reader’s account had to stand in for the clandestine photo that might otherwise have accompanied the sighting.
    — Jeff Ihaza, Rolling Stone, 6 Oct. 2026
  • The Soviet Union operated an extensive clandestine biological weapons program despite being a party to the Biological Weapons Convention.
    — Krutika Kuppalli, STAT, 6 Oct. 2026
Definition of clandestine
Adjective
  • The show revolved around Crockett and Tubbs, two undercover detectives infiltrating South Florida’s criminal underworld.
    — Matt Grobar, Deadline, 13 Oct. 2026
  • At its center is a youngish man named Bob Arctor, an undercover cop who starts using drugs in order to infiltrate a house full of addicts in Southern California.
    — Hilton Als, New Yorker, 12 Oct. 2026
Definition of undercover
Adjective
  • The dehumanization of Black people represented by the persistence of Confederate iconography in mainstream culture became an underground signifier of the precariousness of the freedoms enshrined by the 14th Amendment.
    — Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 10 Oct. 2026
  • Much has been written about the sprawling compounds of tech titans like Mark Zuckerberg, whose 1,400-acre Kauai property includes plans for a 5,000-square-foot underground shelter.
    — Megan Buerger, Washington Post, 9 Oct. 2026
Definition of underground
Adjective
  • There has been serious buzz recently about the film series focused on the United States conducting covert actions against drug cartels.
    — David Hookstead OutKick, FOXNews.com, 6 Oct. 2026
  • Flashbacks to recent events reveal that the townspeople never let Hal find peace, and even firebombed his home, only for a grown-up Noah — Kerry’s son, and Zoe’s grandson — to save him and regenerate his skin using Zoe’s covert alien tech.
    — Siddhant Adlakha, Vulture, 5 Oct. 2026
Definition of covert
Adjective
  • The dining room has 28 seats, a private event space holds 10, and the menu proposes just three Milanese and Lombardian dishes for each of the antipasti, primi, and secondi courses (four for dessert).
    — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 10 Oct. 2026
  • Mercury in your 4th House quincunxes Saturn in your 9th, creating a mismatch between private realities and bigger plans involving travel, education, beliefs, or the future.
    — Tarot.com, New York Daily News, 9 Oct. 2026
Definition of private

Browse Nearby Words

backstage
backstairs
backstop
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Cite this Entry

“Backstairs.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/backstairs. Accessed 15 Oct. 2026.

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