second fiddle

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of second fiddle Theo Hernández Another former Real Madrid player, Hernández joined Los Blancos in 2017 from Atlético Madrid and went on to play 23 times for the first team, acting as second fiddle to Marcelo Díaz at the time. Sam Leveridge, Forbes, 20 Jan. 2025 Any notions of generational traumas being unavoidable, or the sins of the father being hidden from sons in the name of protectiveness, plays second fiddle to, say, what Perkins can do to a bus full of cheerleaders at the wrong place at the wrong time. David Fear, Rolling Stone, 20 Feb. 2025 Instead, precursor voters decided Culkin’s backing band should be a bunch of second fiddles. Nate Jones, Vulture, 21 Jan. 2025 Perhaps the thinnest of all SNL skit-to-movie translations — and that really is saying a lot — Ferrell bobs his head a lot and mostly plays second fiddle to Chris Kattan, something that would never, ever happen again. Tim Grierson, Vulture, 4 Feb. 2025 See All Example Sentences for second fiddle
Recent Examples of Synonyms for second fiddle
Noun
  • The ball fell to the court in no-man’s land and the final seconds ran off the clock.
    Kevin Dotson, CNN Money, 8 Apr. 2025
  • Dentists arguing to keep fluoride in the water were limited to 60 seconds of remarks during the meeting’s public comment segment in the morning.
    Douglas Hanks, Miami Herald, 7 Apr. 2025
Noun
  • Grimes was a graduate assistant under Lou Holtz from 1981-82.
    Michael Harley, Arkansas Online, 6 Apr. 2025
  • Donovan was the lead assistant for the Wildcats during a 1993 run to the Final Four.
    Julia Poe, Chicago Tribune, 5 Apr. 2025
Noun
  • Rooted in principles of mutual aid, member ownership, and not-for-profit service, credit unions were built to prioritize people over profit.
    Shane Enete, Forbes.com, 8 Apr. 2025
  • Trump had repeatedly hinted that a future peace deal would include Ukrainian territorial and political concessions and be twinned with the curtailment of U.S. aid to Kyiv.
    David Brennan, ABC News, 8 Apr. 2025
Noun
  • Even former Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) is attracting a challenger — Saikat Chakrabarti, a 39-year-old former aide to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) — though attempts to primary the Democratic powerhouse have failed over the last few cycles.
    Rachel Schilke, The Washington Examiner, 27 Mar. 2025
  • School board President Sean Harden, who was appointed by Mayor Brandon Johnson, delayed a vote on a budget amendment last Thursday that would have opened the door for a borrowing scenario to cover both costs proposed by Johnson’s top aides.
    Gregory Royal Pratt, Chicago Tribune, 27 Mar. 2025
Noun
  • Sherman put his singing and acting career on hold and transitioned into working as a paramedic and later a technical reserve police officer with the Los Angeles Police Department and a reserve deputy sheriff with the San Bernadino County Sheriff’s Department.
    Elizabeth Stanton, FOXNews.com, 2 Apr. 2025
  • After four of Adams’ top deputies decided to resign, Gov. Kathy Hochul pondered taking the unprecedented step of ousting a New York City mayor.
    Jennifer Peltz and Michael R. Sisak, Los Angeles Times, 2 Apr. 2025
Noun
  • At the time, there were an estimated 450 greater adjutant storks left in the region.
    Kyla Mandel, TIME, 20 Feb. 2025
  • In the months since fellow senior Legion executives suspended Abrahamson without pay from his statewide adjutant job in April, a number of the roughly 8,000 members in Idaho have called for a change in leadership.
    Kevin Fixler, Idaho Statesman, 13 July 2024
Noun
  • Coyne was named archbishop coadjutor on June 25, 2023.
    Ed Stannard, Hartford Courant, 1 May 2024
  • Schnurr came to Cincinnati in 2008 as coadjutor archbishop and took over as archbishop about a year later, upon the retirement of former Archbishop Daniel Pilarczyk.
    Dan Horn, The Enquirer, 7 May 2024

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Cite this Entry

“Second fiddle.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/second%20fiddle. Accessed 14 Apr. 2025.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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