catbird seat

catbird seat

noun

Definition of CATBIRD SEAT

: a position of great prominence or advantage

Examples of CATBIRD SEAT

1. <your fluency in French should put you in the catbird seat for getting the Paris posting>
2. <in the wake of the natural disaster, this obscure bureaucrat was suddenly and unexpectedly thrust into the catbird seat>

First Known Use of CATBIRD SEAT

1942

Related to CATBIRD SEAT

Synonyms: better, bulge, advantage, drop, edge, high ground, inside track, jump, pull, stead, upper hand, vantage, whip hand

Antonyms: disadvantage, drawback, handicap, liability, minus, penalty, strike

Related Words: allowance, head start, lead, leg up, margin, odds, start; ascendancy (also ascendency), command, dominance, mastery, predominance, superiority, supremacy, transcendence, transcendency; precedence, preference, prerogative, privilege, seniority; break, foothold, opportunity; benefit, blessing, boon, felicity, godsend, manna, windfall

Near Antonyms: detriment, stranglehold; disparity, imbalance, inequality, unevenness; disability, failing, impairment, shortcoming; bar, catch, check, clog, crimp, embarrassment, hindrance, hitch, hurdle, impediment, interference, let, manacle, obstacle, obstruction, rub, shackle, stop, trammel; lurch, setback

see all synonyms and antonyms

[+]more[-]hide

Rhymes with CATBIRD SEAT

aquavit, at one's feet, balance sheet, biathlete, bittersweet, booster seat, bucket seat, cellulite, cookie sheet, corps d'elite, countryseat, county seat, crystal pleat, decathlete, drag one's feet, driver's seat, easy street, exegete, incomplete, indiscreet, latent heat, letter sheet, lorikeet, make ends meet, marguerite, Masorete, meadowsweet, meet and greet, miss a beat, Nayarit, obsolete, off one's feet, on one's feet, on the street, overeat, overheat, Paraclete, parakeet, pentathlete, prickly heat, rumble seat, saddle seat, scandal sheet, self-conceit, semisweet, shredded wheat, sliding seat, spirochete, superheat, to one's feet, triathlete, trick or treat, two-way street, undertreat, up one's street, winding-sheet, window seat