- a person or thing filling a secondary role, especially to one immediately superior (often used attributively): He has a certain strength and humility that comes from being in a second-fiddle position for years.That new copycat seafood restaurant will never be more than a second fiddle to ours.
- to act in a secondary role: She's tired of playing second fiddle to her egomaniacal teammate.
- the second violin in a string quartet or one of the second violins in an orchestra
- the musical part assigned to such an instrument
- a secondary status
- a person who has a secondary status
