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second fiddle

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noun
a person or thing filling a secondary role, especially to one immediately superior (also used attributively): He has a certain strength and humility that comes from being in a second-fiddle position for years.That new copycat seafood restaurant will never be more than a second fiddle to ours.
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Idioms about second fiddle

    play second fiddle, to act in a secondary role: She's tired of playing second fiddle to her egomaniacal teammate.

Origin of second fiddle

First recorded in 1825–35
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use second fiddle in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for second fiddle

second fiddle

noun informal
  1. the second violin in a string quartet or one of the second violins in an orchestra
  2. the musical part assigned to such an instrument
a secondary status
a person who has a secondary status
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

Other Idioms and Phrases with second fiddle

second fiddle

see play second fiddle.

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