backseat

American  

[bak-seet] / ˈbækˈsit /

noun

1. a seat at the rear.

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idioms

1. take a backseat, to occupy a secondary or inferior position.

   Her writing has taken a backseat because of other demands on her time.

Etymology

Origin of backseat

First recorded in 1825–35

Explanation

When you ride in the backseat of a car, you sit in the row of seats behind the driver. Kids sometimes fight over the front seat, not wanting to sit in the backseat. You can travel in the backseat of a automobile, unless you're the driver or are riding in a two-seat sports car. Another way to use the word backseat is to describe "an inferior position." If you take a backseat to your older brother, it means he tends to get all the attention. The word, more commonly written as back seat, was used in the 1800s to talk about riding in coaches and carriages.

Example Sentences

The first is that artificial intelligence is still fueling earnings and spending, with everything else taking a backseat.

From Barron's • Jun. 8, 2026

Jan Leike, who posted publicly that safety culture had “taken a backseat to shiny products.”

From MarketWatch • May 27, 2026

At times their own desires and tastes take a backseat to the demands of others, and Nguyen also captures moments when candid feelings of frustration and ambivalence slip through.

From Salon • Mar. 27, 2026

Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor had just been released from police custody when a haunted photo of him, slumped in the backseat of a car, suddenly dropped.

From BBC • Feb. 27, 2026

He glances over his shoulder at where that urn is sitting on the backseat.

From "Clean Getaway" by Nic Stone