backhanded compliment
It's kind of a left-handed compliment to call her "the female Picasso" — it's like you have the female Picasso instead of the real Picasso.
The whole article has the distinct feeling of a left-handed compliment.
His constant left-handed compliments make me sick.
SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases Praising insincerely or too eagerly
backhanded compliment
bootlicker
bow and scrapeidiom
crawler
creep
flummery
glad-handing
grovel
grovelling
grovellingly
massage someone's egoidiom
obsequious
obsequiously
people pleaser
play up to someone
sycophantic
sycophantically
toady
toadying
truckle
You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:
Insults & abuse