backfriend
Synonym of hangnailSynonym of hangnail (“a loose, narrow strip of nail tissue protruding from the side edge and anchored near the base of a fingernail or toenail”).
Meaning
3 senses(UK, archaic, dialectal)A friend who supports someone; a person who has someone's back; a backer, a supporter.
(UK, dialectal)Synonym of hangnail (“a loose, narrow strip of nail tissue protruding from the side edge and anchored near the base of a fingernail or toenail”).
(UK, dialectal, obsolete)A person who pretends to be someone's friend; a false friend, a secret enemy.
Origin
From back (adverb or noun) + friend. Sense 3 (“person who pretends to be someone’s friend”From back (adverb or noun) + friend. Sense 3 (“person who pretends to be someone’s friend”) may allude to a person who stays back instead of coming forward to help, and so is not a true friend.
Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Forms
plural: backfriendsSynonyms
1 synonymsWord family
3 related wordsSee also
neighbours in the dictionaryDictionary text adapted from Wiktionary (Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet / Princeton WordNet (CC BY 4.0, WordNet License); shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Example sentences and recordings are credited where they appear.