talk back
verb1
Idiomatic, Often To reply impertinently or rudely; to answer in a cheeky or rude manner.
With to + d.o.
- Jane talked back a little too often.
- Jane talked back to most of her teachers.
1 more example
- And all over Hollywood, suits are licking their chops at the prospect of more malleable actors. “She’s not going to talk back,” one top talent wrangler told me dryly.2025 October 4, Maureen Dowd, “When A.I. Came for Hollywood”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 05 Oct 2025:
2
Idiomatic To return disrespect.
- Synonyms
- backtalk, answer back
- Derived terms
- talkback