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View synonyms for backseat driver
backseat driver
noun
- an automobile passenger who offers the driver unsolicited advice, warnings, criticism, etc., especially from the backseat.
- any person who, by means of criticism, unsolicited advice, or the like, interferes in affairs that are not their own concern or responsibility.
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Other Words From
- backseat driving noun
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Word History and Origins
Origin of backseat driver1
First recorded in 1925–30
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Idioms and Phrases
A passenger who gives unwanted and/or unneeded directions to the driver; also, a person who interferes in affairs without having knowledge, responsibility, or authority for doing so. For example, Aunt Mary drives us all crazy with her instructions; she's an incurable backseat driver . This term originated in the United States in the 1920s, when it was first used for a passenger legitimately directing a chauffeur, and it was quickly transferred to figurative use. Also see the synonym Monday-morning quarterback and the antonym take a back seat .Advertisement
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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