behind someone's back
prep_phrase1
Idiomatic Without somebody's knowledge; secretly.
- The employees talked about their boss behind his back.
- You will lose good karma if you say bad things behind people's backs.
3 more examples
- 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 time1998, Violent Femmes, “Kiss Off”, in Violent Femmes: