second banana
Americannoun
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a comic who supports the leading comedian, often as a straight man, especially in burlesque or vaudeville.
-
any person who plays a secondary role or serves in a subsidiary capacity.
Etymology
Origin of second banana
First recorded in 1950–55
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.
This time, monsters and mayhem play second banana to the people experiencing them, and “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” revels in showing us what that looks like.
From Salon ● Sep. 9, 2024
Vance famously resented having to play Ethel as a frumpy, overweight second banana, a resentment that we see Lucy stoking here in a particularly petty way.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 7, 2021
A second banana was the second most important person in an organization.
From Washington Post ● Jul. 4, 2021
Watching Candace Against the Universe with my delighted, now–Candace-aged Phineas and Ferb fans, I was so pleased to see a longtime second banana get her due.
From Slate ● Aug. 24, 2020
I asked as I peeled my second banana.
From "Liar, Liar" by Gary Paulsen
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.
