coattail

[ koht-teyl ]

noun

1. the back of the skirt on a man's coat or jacket.
2. one of the two back parts of the skirt of a coat, especially one of the tails on a tailcoat.

adjective

1. gained by association with another, especially with a successful or celebrated person:

   coattail benefits.

Word History and Origins

Origin of coattail¹

First recorded in 1590–1600; coat + tail ¹

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. on someone's coattails, aided by association with another person:

   The senator rode into office on the president's coattails.

2. on the coattails of, immediately after or as a result of:

   His decline in popularity followed on the coattails of the scandal.

Example Sentences

Some Democrats, however, are worried that Harris' money flood is overshadowing tepid fundraising by down-ballot candidates and committees focused on state legislative races, and it's unclear how long her coattails are.

From Salon

“The other thing is the resiliency and the availability of the infrastructure. Cloud providers have designed and architected their infrastructure really well. We can ride on the coattails of their innovation.”

From BBC

“But somebody’s going to see it as an opportunity, then I’m sure people will follow on their coattails.”

From Seattle Times

To get there, Corder says, astronomers want to “ride on the coattails” of quantum technologies developed for other uses.

From Science Magazine

Her story recalls that of Senator Paula Hawkins of Florida, a member of the 1980 class that swept Republicans into the Senate majority on Ronald Reagan’s coattails.

From New York Times