second self

American  

noun

1. one who associates so closely with a given person as to assume that person's mode of behavior, personality, beliefs, etc.

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Etymology

Origin of second self

First recorded in 1580–90

Example Sentences

Mr Davies said that Ms Beal introduced a "second self" in the journals, who she called Tulip 22, "who is capable of wholly different and darker conduct than her public persona of committed teacher."

From BBC

For him, the operation is a means of creating a grief-free second self.

From New York Times

Kirabo’s loneliness is further complicated by a new discovery; she possesses a rebellious “second self” that does “mad things” and flies out of her body in episodes of uncontrollable deviance.

From New York Times

Kirabo is lucky, the witch insists, because the second self is the nature of the “first woman,” which most women no longer possess.

From New York Times

What ensues in Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi’s novel is a richly complex journey into girlhood and womanhood, set against the backdrop of a changing nation, suffused with glimpses of Uganda’s own second self — the traditions before Christianity, before colonialism, before Idi Amin and many of the “befores” that time has subdued but not quite erased.

From New York Times