second fiddle
noun
a secondary role: to play second fiddle to another person.
a person serving in a subsidiary capacity, especially to one immediately superior.
QUIZZES
LEARN THE SPANISH WORDS FOR THESE COMMON ANIMALS!
Are you learning Spanish? Or do you just have an interest in foreign languages? Either way, this quiz on Spanish words for animals is for you.
Question 1 of 13
How do you say “cat” 🐈 in Spanish?
Origin of second fiddle
First recorded in 1825–35
Words nearby second fiddle
second division, seconde, secondee, Second Empire, second estate, second fiddle, second floor, second-foot, second-generation, second growth, second-guess
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2021
Example sentences from the Web for second fiddle
Bill declined to play the second-fiddle parts; he took himself out of Mary's orchestra entirely.
Fore!|Charles Emmett Van LoanHe found it hard to believe a man of my sort, so self-assured, would stand the truth from a man of his second-fiddle sort.
The Deluge|David Graham PhillipsMrs. Fox-Darriel found the rle of second-fiddle a little dull; still, it was well worth while to play it.
The Confounding of Camelia|Anne Douglas Sedgwick
British Dictionary definitions for second fiddle
second fiddle
noun informal
- the second violin in a string quartet or one of the second violins in an orchestra
- 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
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.