Dictionary

back seat en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• (Southern-England) audio

Etymology

From back + seat.

Meanings

1. Any of the seats in the rear of a vehicle.
   • 2011, Rebecca Black featuring Patrice Wilson, Friday Gotta catch my bus, I see my friends Kickin' in the front seat Sittin' in the back seat Gotta make my mind up Which seat can I take?
2. (especially, in the expression take a back seat, informal) A lesser or inferior position; a position of deliberate noninvolvement, in which decision-making or leadership is left to others.
   • The bluntness of King Vajiralongkorn's intervention—and the determination it reveals to resist relatively small checks on royal power—is both a snub to the junta and a worry for democrats, some of whom had dared hope that the new king might be happy to take a back seat in public life. 2017 January 14, “Thailand's new king rejects the army's proposed constitution”, in The Economist:

Forms

Coordinates

front seat

Deriveds

backseater · back-seat moderator · back-seat driving · back-seat gaming · take a back seat · backseat gamer · backseat · back-seat driver · backseat driver · in the back seat · backseat moderator · back-seat gamer

Synonyms

rearseat

Translations (29)

ar مَقْعَد خَلْفِيّ (seat) · de Rücksitz (seat) · is aftursæti (seat) · nb baksete (seat) · is áhrifalítil staða (position) · fi takapenkki (position) · ru за́днее сиде́ние (seat) · es segundón (position) · pt banco de trás (seat) · nn baksete (seat) · pt banco traseiro (seat) · fr siège arrière (seat) · es asiento trasero (seat) · ja 後部座席 (seat) · da bagsæde (seat) · fi takapenkki (seat) · cmn 後座 /后座 (seat) · sv baksäte (seat) · ur پچھلی نشست (seat) · nl achterbank (seat) · hu hátsó ülés (seat) · fi takaistuin (seat) · pt garupa (seat) · is valdalítil staða (position) · pl podrzędna pozycja (position) · ga suíochán deiridh (seat) · ja バックシート (seat) · pl tylne siedzenie (seat) · ko 뒷좌석 (seat)