behind someone's back

prepositional phrase

Without somebody's knowledge; secretly.

“Amma is constantly behind my back about my marks.”

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Meanings

prepositional phrase
  1. idiomaticWithout somebody's knowledge; secretly.

    The employees talked about their boss behind his back.

    4 more examples

    You will lose good karma if you say bad things behind people's backs.

    I had never defrauded a man of a farthing, nor called him knave behind his back. But now the last rag that covered my nakedness had been torn from me. I was branded a blackleg, card-sharper, and murderer.

    1908, W[illiam] B[lair] M[orton] Ferguson, chapter II, in Zollenstein, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC, page 25

    Giant machines, precision tools, monster missiles, and all such [they] did lack. Indeed, the last industrial revolution happened behind their back.

    1974, Tunji Oyelana, “Which Way Africa”

    You can all just kiss off into the air / Behind my back I can see them stare / They'll hurt me bad, but I won't mind / They'll hurt me bad, they do it all the time

    1998, Violent Femmes, “Kiss Off”, in Violent Femmes
  2. IndiaSouthPursuing, nagging someone. Calque of వెంటపడు in Telugu.

    Amma is constantly behind my back about my marks.

Translations

Chinese Mandarin 在某人背後 /在某人背后
  • 在某人背後 /在某人背后 (zài mǒurén bèihòu)secretly
Finnish selän takana
  • selän takanasecretly
French dans le dos de, à l'insu de
  • dans le dos desecretly
  • à l'insu desecretly
German hinter jemandes Rücken, hinterrücks
  • hinter jemandes Rückensecretly
  • hinterrückssecretly
Hungarian a háta mögött
  • a háta mögöttsecretly
Indonesian di belakang
  • di belakangsecretly
Italian alle spalle
  • alle spallesecretly
Portuguese pelas costas
  • pelas costassecretly
Russian за глаза́
  • за глаза́ (za glazá)secretly
Spanish a espaldas de alguien, por la puerta de atrás
  • a espaldas de alguiensecretly
  • por la puerta de atrássecretly
  • de extranjissecretly
  • de tapadillosecretly
  • a escondidassecretly
  • a escondidillassecretly
Swedish bakom någons rygg, bakom ryggen på någon
  • bakom någons ryggsecretly
  • bakom ryggen på någonsecretly
Welsh dan din
  • dan dinsecretly
Cite this entry
APA

behind someone's back. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/behind%20someone's%20back

MLA

“behind someone's back.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/behind%20someone's%20back. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “behind someone's back,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/behind%20someone's%20back.

Source: behind someone's back on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.