SECOND FIDDLE Synonyms: 40 Similar and Opposite Words

second fiddle

noun

Definition of second fiddle

as in second

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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 My connoisseurship plays second fiddle to my status as a member of the clan. — Vinson Cunningham, New Yorker, 2 June 2026 The religion of college football is strong in the South, and everything else just plays second fiddle. — Austin Perry Outkick, FOXNews.com, 23 May 2026 Bicycle tail lights have a way of playing second fiddle to their brighter, more interesting headlight siblings. — Ben Coxworth may 15, New Atlas, 15 May 2026 Colleen Camp, on the other hand, demonstrates a flair for light comedy as an alluring French maid, though the role too often requires her to play second fiddle to her own enhanced bosom. — Kirk Ellis, HollywoodReporter, 12 May 2026 See All Example Sentences for second fiddle

Recent Examples of Synonyms for second fiddle

Noun

The meteors are tiny fragments shed by Comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle that burn up in Earth’s atmosphere at about 37 miles (59 kilometers) per second.

— Jamie Carter, Forbes.com, 11 Aug. 2026
Hong Kong — A Chinese rocket set to launch a satellite into orbit blew-up seconds after liftoff Monday, marking the relatively rare failure for a rocket considered a workhorse of Beijing’s space program.

— Sylvie Zhuang, CNN Money, 11 Aug. 2026

Definition of second

Noun

Second-year University of Connecticut student Kira Mesick jumped at the chance to fill a resident assistant job at the university’s new, $29 million residence hall in downtown Hartford, seizing on its Pratt Street location.

— Kenneth R. Gosselin, Hartford Courant, 9 Aug. 2026
Sustaining a life in medicine would be impossible without the support of my colleagues — doctors, nurses, nurse practitioners, medical assistants, technicians and translators.

— Rajani LaRocca, PEOPLE, 9 Aug. 2026

Definition of assistant

Noun

The aid workers who once regularly visited her village to help pregnant women had stopped coming, after foreign aid cuts by the United States shuttered a program aimed at saving mothers’ and babies’ lives.

— ABC News, ABC News, 13 Aug. 2026
Political scientist Sandra Borda argued that the difficulties in aid management are related to the tense political transition between the current and previous administrations, which lacked a formal handover.

— Gonzalo Zegarra, CNN Money, 13 Aug. 2026

Definition of aid

Noun

The attention to detail extended even to Obama’s on-screen aide, played by his real-life Director of Oval Office Operations Brian Mosteller.

— Ethan Shanfeld, Variety, 8 Aug. 2026
Dade’s maternal grandmother, Beverly Anderson, told WKBW-TV that her granddaughter worked as a health aide for elderly people and aspired to become a nurse.

— Janelle Griffith, PEOPLE, 7 Aug. 2026

Definition of aide

Noun

Circumstances leading up to the shooting are still under investigation, but deputies said that a man was shot in the leg.

— Dean Fioresi, CBS News, 10 Aug. 2026
For Daniel Murray, deputy chief investment officer at EFG Asset Management, investor skepticism on European stocks had gone too far given the outlook for strong macro growth and solid earnings.

— Sagarika Jaisinghani, Fortune, 9 Aug. 2026

Definition of deputy

Noun

But that hasn’t stopped out-of-state reenactors from worrying their muskets will be confiscated at the George Washington Bridge, says Justin Costantino, adjutant of the Long Island Companies of the 3rd New York Regiment.

— Allen G. Breed, Los Angeles Times, 14 May 2026
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

Definition of adjutant

Noun

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, 2 July 2025
By 1997, he was named coadjutor archbishop of Buenos Aires, assuming full leadership of the archdiocese the following year.

— Josh Hammer, MSNBC Newsweek, 21 Apr. 2025

Definition of coadjutor

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seconded

second fiddle

second fiddles

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“Second fiddle.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/second%20fiddle. Accessed 13 Aug. 2026.

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Synonyms of second fiddle

noun

Example Sentences

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