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
Words nearby second fiddle
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
Idioms and Phrases with second fiddle
second fiddle
see play second fiddle.