pay a backhanded compliment

pay someone a backhanded compliment

and pay someone a left-handed compliment

Fig. to give someone a false compliment that is really an insult or criticism. John said that he had never seen me looking better. I think he was paying me a left-handed compliment. I'd prefer that someone insulted me directly. I hate it when someone pays me a backhanded compliment—unless it's a joke.

Common Names:

Name	Pronounced	Usage
Surayya	-	Arabic
Gessica	-	Italian
Sharmila	-	Tamil, Indian, Marathi
Temperance	TEM-prənts, TEM-pər-ənts	English (Archaic)
Iris	IE-ris (English), EE-ris (German, Dutch), EE-rees (Finnish, Spanish)	Greek Mythology, English, German, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, French, Spanish
ÖZge	UUZ-ge	Turkish