1
as in advantage
the more favorable condition or position in a competition
your fluency in French should put you in the catbird seat for getting the Paris posting
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in center stage
the center of public attention
in the wake of the natural disaster, this obscure bureaucrat was suddenly and unexpectedly thrust into the catbird seat
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of catbird seat
The catbird seats were occupied instead by the titans of attention.
—
Ezra Klein, The Mercury News, 31 Jan. 2025
Seems to me that the Giants are in the catbird seat.
—Grant Brisbee, The Athletic, 24 July 2024
William Byron, on the other hand, is in the catbird seat among Hendrick Motorsports drivers and sits with a seven-point cushion above the cutoff line.
—Marco Rubio, Newsweek, 2 Nov. 2024
Brat is what happens when an auteur is given a budget and the catbird seat in the boardroom.
—Hazlitt, 17 July 2024
See All Example Sentences for catbird seat
Ezra Klein, The Mercury News, 31 Jan. 2025
Seems to me that the Giants are in the catbird seat.
—Grant Brisbee, The Athletic, 24 July 2024
William Byron, on the other hand, is in the catbird seat among Hendrick Motorsports drivers and sits with a seven-point cushion above the cutoff line.
—Marco Rubio, Newsweek, 2 Nov. 2024
Brat is what happens when an auteur is given a budget and the catbird seat in the boardroom.
—Hazlitt, 17 July 2024
See All Example Sentences for catbird seat
Recent Examples of Synonyms for catbird seat
Noun
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The Stars finished with a 50-26-6 record, edging out Colorado for second in the division and home ice advantage in this series.—
Nicholas Creel,
MSNBC Newsweek,
19 Apr. 2025
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The District 3 race could also play a key role on whether Mahan successfully implements his policy agenda over the next year, as his bloc currently holds a slim voting advantage on the dais that could shift if Quevedo does not win the seat.—
Devan Patel,
Mercury News,
19 Apr. 2025
Noun
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Students at Columbia University report a tense mood on campus after being center stage in the Trump administration’s multi-prong fight against protests at colleges around the country last year, including deportation efforts against some international students who took part in the demonstrations.—
Samantha Waldenberg,
CNN Money,
9 Apr. 2025
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During the Jewish Passover, the egg takes on many ritualistic roles; the roasted or hard-boiled orb is center stage on the seder plate symbolizing the cycle of life and hopeful beginnings.—
Catharine Kaufman,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
18 Mar. 2025
Noun
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Roberts has played several positions across the defensive front but has been primarily an edge defender.—
Mike DeFabo,
New York Times,
14 Apr. 2025
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Six female celebs — including pop songstress Katy Perry, journalist Gayle King and Jeff Bezos’s fiancée, author Lauren Sánchez — are slated to blast off Monday morning in a Blue Origin rocket headed for the edge of space.—
Theresa Braine,
New York Daily News,
14 Apr. 2025
Noun
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YouTube show Pop The Balloon will become a live dating show on Netflix, with the streamer releasing its own weekly spin on series best known for giving judging a person at face value its very own spotlight.—
CT Jones,
Rolling Stone,
10 Apr. 2025
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The Great Escape festival is held on an annual basis every May in the seaside city of Brighton, and spotlights emerging and rising talent from the U.K. and Ireland as well as international newcomers.—
Thomas Smith,
Billboard,
10 Apr. 2025
Noun
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The increase could be a sign of buyers having an upper hand in the market, said Redfin’s Zhao.—
Ana Teresa Solá,
CNBC,
4 Mar. 2025
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In the process, employers have gained a significant upper hand.—
Jack Kelly,
Forbes,
29 Jan. 2025
Noun
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Now the food blogger from Charlotte, North Carolina, is getting top billing at the White House thanks to President Donald Trump and Kennedy's Make America Healthy Again agenda.—
Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy,
USA Today,
20 Apr. 2025
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After 19 seasons as the show’s lead, Pompeo scaled back her on-screen presence in Season 20 and has been recurring since while continuing to get top billing on the series.—
Nellie Andreeva,
Deadline,
3 Apr. 2025
Noun
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Microsoft’s whip hand, more than anything, else, comes down to cold hard cash.—
Jeremy Kahn,
Fortune,
19 Nov. 2023
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The failure of the ‘red wave’ to materialize means that an old-fashioned socialist will have the whip hand over health care for the next two years.—
Joel Zinberg,
National Review,
30 Nov. 2022
Noun
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The reclusive actor, who retreated from Hollywood's limelight in recent years, publicly battled the disease for much of the past decade, permanently losing his voice to a tracheotomy, but continuing to act and write.—
Jay Stahl,
USA Today,
4 Apr. 2025
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For decades, sales and marketing have hogged the corporate limelight, while customer service got table scraps.—
Alexander Puutio,
Forbes.com,
26 Mar. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Catbird seat.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/catbird%20seat. Accessed 25 Apr. 2025.
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