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right-hand man

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR right-hand man ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

an indispensable or invaluable assistant; right hand.

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Nearby words

  1. right-eyed flounder,
  2. right-footed,
  3. right-footer,
  4. right-hand,
  5. right-hand buoy,
  6. right-hand rule,
  7. right-handed,
  8. right-handedness,
  9. right-hander,
  10. right-laid

Origin of right-hand man

First recorded in 1655–65
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Idioms and Phrases with right-hand man

right-hand man

Also, right-hand woman. A trusted helper, as in Give it to Jill, she's my right-hand man. Based on the idea that in most people the right hand is the stronger of the two, this idiom today usually disregards gender, as in the example. However, in the the 17th and 18th centuries it also meant a soldier in a post of command on the right side of a cavalry unit, and then always denoted a man. [c. 1800]

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.