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left-handed compliment

noun

Definitions

  1. A complimentary remark which is ambiguous or ineptly worded, so that it may be…

    A complimentary remark which is ambiguous or ineptly worded, so that it may be interpreted as having an unflattering or dismissive sense.

    • "We have sat through the whole of dinner and not once mentioned politics." "You made us forget them," Tallente murmured. "A left-handed compliment," Jane laughed.
    • In a somewhat left-handed compliment, UN Secretary-General U Thant described Russia's new bosses as "competent and unpretentious."
    • [C]alling someone a "neglected master" makes for one hell of a left-handed compliment.

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for left-handed compliment. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA