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.
Origin of second fiddle
First recorded in 1825–35
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Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Examples from the Web for second fiddle
Historical Examples of second fiddle
Mrs. Fox-Darriel found the rle of second-fiddle a little dull; still, it was well worth while to play it.
The Confounding of CameliaAnne Douglas Sedgwick
Bill declined to play the second-fiddle parts; he took himself out of Mary's orchestra entirely.
Fore!Charles Emmett Van Loan
He 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 DelugeDavid Graham Phillips
second fiddle
noun informal
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
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second fiddle
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary
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