back seat meaning: definition, etymology and quotations

back seat

noun

Etymology From back + seat.

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?

Especially, Informal A lesser or inferior position; a position of deliberate noninvolvement, in which decision-making or leadership is left to others.

In the expression take a back seat

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:

Derived terms: backseat, back-seat driver, backseat driver, back-seat driving, backseater, back-seat gamer, backseat gamer, back-seat gaming, back-seat moderator, backseat moderator, in the back seat, take a back seat