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bridesmaid

American

[brahydz-meyd] / ˈbraɪdzˌmeɪd /

noun

a young woman who attends the bride at a wedding ceremony.
Informal. a person, group, etc., that is in a secondary position, never quite attains a goal, etc..

Bridesmaids for 12 seasons, the Eagles finally won the championship.

bridesmaid British

/ ˈbraɪdzˌmeɪd /

noun

a girl or young unmarried woman who attends a bride at her wedding Compare matron of honour maid of honour

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of bridesmaid

First recorded in 1545–55; bride ¹ + 's ¹ + maid

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.

DeSorbo was a bridesmaid at Batula’s wedding and vocal from the get-go about her disdain for Cooke.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 3, 2026

How much should I actually be helping plan a bachelorette party when I’m a bridesmaid — not the maid of honor?

From MarketWatch • Jan. 29, 2026

This contest, for weeks, was instead a race between an outfit, Reform UK, which barely existed a few years back and another, Plaid Cymru - until now the perpetual bridesmaid in contests in Caerphilly.

From BBC • Oct. 24, 2025

Always the bridesmaid, never the bride is a phrase that could have been invented for director Paul Thomas Anderson.

From BBC • Sep. 20, 2025

My sister Adele was due to get married at the end of May, and I was going to be a bridesmaid.

From "How Dare the Sun Rise" by Sandra Uwiringiyimana

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023