sidekick
Americannoun
-
a close friend.
-
a confederate or assistant.
noun
Etymology
Origin of sidekick
Explanation
A sidekick is a buddy who comes with you on your adventures. If you’re a superhero, your sidekick helps you fight crime. Electra Woman’s sidekick was the teenage Dyna Girl, and in the ‘70s they defeated villains on TV. A sidekick might be a work assistant, a best friend, or even a devoted dog that follows you to school every day. Sometimes this word signifies an imbalance of power, though; if you say, “This is my sidekick, Sarah," it implies that Sarah has less authority than you do. The origin of this word is unknown, but we do know that it appeared after the terms side-pal and side-partner fell out of fashion.
Vocabulary lists containing sidekick
Superhero Lexicon
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New Kid
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Comic Book Day
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“The Mandalorian,” in which Pedro Pascal plays a bounty hunter who works with a sidekick that fans nicknamed “Baby Yoda,” has been the most successful and a big hit in consumer-product sales.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 24, 2026
And for a time he becomes the sidekick of an out-of-work guerrilla in the Central African Republic.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 8, 2026
What was it like finding the nuance in a character that, in many other series, would likely be a goofy sidekick or punchline?
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 10, 2026
The Chicago area native previously lived in New York — where he first found fame as Conan O’Brien’s sidekick on “Late Night” — before moving to Los Angeles in 2001.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 27, 2026
“Enchanted assistant, sidekick, comic relief, et cetera, et cetera,” said Boo.
From "Aru Shah and the End of Time" by Roshani Chokshi
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
