fiddler
Americannoun
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a person who plays the fiddle, esp in folk music
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See fiddler crab
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a person who wastes time or acts aimlessly
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informal a cheat or petty rogue
Etymology
Origin of fiddler
before 1100; Middle English, Old English fithelere; cognate with Dutch vedelaar, German Fiedler. See fiddle, -er 1
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 4,000-year-old stone circle is said to represent nine petrified ladies, while the King Stone is said to be the fossilised fiddler who played for them.
From BBC ● Jun. 23, 2026
It details the rise, against the odds, of a talented but reticent folk fiddler who evolves into a concert artist thanks largely to the efforts of those who care about him.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 11, 2026
Some 250 miles west, in Beaumont, Texas, Álvarez meets Ed Poullard, “a world-class fiddler and one of the last remaining Black Creole accordion makers.”
From Seattle Times ● May 17, 2024
Giddens — the singer, songwriter, banjo player, fiddler and actress who won a MacArthur “genius grant” in 2017 — has devoted herself to serious, high-concept, deeply researched projects.
From New York Times ● Aug. 7, 2023
But mind ... you’ve got to pay the fiddler yet.’
From "Johnny Tremain" by Esther Hoskins Forbes
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.
