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take a back seat

Idioms

Occupy an inferior position; allow another to be in control. For example, Linda was content to take a back seat and let Nancy run the meeting. This idiom uses back seat in contrast to the driver's seat, that is, the one in control. [Mid-1800s]

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.

But analysts say if instability persists in the Middle East, that concern could take a back seat to China ensuring it can secure all the gas it needs.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 10, 2026

Musk himself has hinted he could leave Tesla or take a back seat if his ownership share is not raised enough to give him the influence over its future that he desires.

From Barron's • Nov. 6, 2025

And do the most obvious mechanisms for lessening screen time—putting your phone away, acting like an actual human being sometimes, or taking a walk outside—really need to take a back seat to industry?

From Slate • Sep. 5, 2025

As age has hit, he's had to take a back seat to the more recent crop of achievers - Liel Abada, Jota, Daizen Maeda, Nicolas Gerrit-Kuhn.

From BBC • May 17, 2025

What, I'm supposed to take a back seat to some punk kid who didn't even really want in?

From "How It Went Down" by Kekla Magoon

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023