to play second fiddle
Preserved but no longer current.
To take a subordinate part. To fiddle about To trifle, fritter away one's time, mess about, play at doing things instead of doing them. To fiddle with one's fingers is to move them about as a fiddler moves his fingers up and down the fiddle-strings.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “to play second fiddle” mean?
To take a subordinate part. To fiddle about To trifle, fritter away one's time, mess about, play at doing things instead of doing them. To fiddle with one's fingers is to move them about as a fiddler moves his fingers up and down the fiddle-strings.
Is “to play second fiddle” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.