sidekick
Americannoun
-
a close friend.
-
a confederate or assistant.
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
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.
See Examples For:
Who, then, was the sidekick in that relationship?
From Slate ● Jul. 14, 2026
“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
Opening for Sykes was her former sidekick on “The Wanda Sykes Show,” Keith Robinson.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 13, 2026
Johnny and his sidekick, Ed McMahon, gave adults a relaxing reprieve from the stresses of everyday living by offering light humor without any negative slants.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 18, 2026
“That’s right,” said his sidekick, renowned librarian Helen Burnham.
From "Mr. Lemoncello's Library Olympics" by Chris Grabenstein
In “Predator: Badlands,” that involved giving an ugly monster emotional vulnerability and a PG-13 adventure with a couple sidekicks, including a chatty android played by Elle Fanning.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 9, 2025
“Superman” is intended to lead off for several upcoming DC movies, including “Supergirl,” starring Milly Alcock, “Clayface,” and “Dynamic Duo” about the Robins — Batman sidekicks Dick Grayson and Jason Todd.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 10, 2025
They’re like Boris and Natasha, if Boris and Natasha had gay sidekicks whose equally unsurprising side plot would’ve made a more thorny and altogether insightful critique of contemporary social politics.
From Salon ● Jan. 31, 2025
Can imperfect sidekicks and second-fiddlers like Camelot’s court jester and Sir Palomides, the Saracen knight, save the realm when Arthur reveals himself as all too mortal?
From Seattle Times ● May 14, 2024
But if Scruffy and Nala got to Duke first, Duke would undoubtedly stick with his old sidekicks because they were part of his heroic rescue team.
From "Dog Squad" by Chris Grabenstein
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.
