back seat

noun

ˈbak-ˈsēt 

variants or less commonly backseat

1

: a seat in the back (as of an automobile)

2

: a secondary or inferior position

… the issues and concerns that have sometimes been given a back seat …

—Al Gore

see also take a back seat

Examples of back seat in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Prosecutors said O'Neill drove for 11 miles before realizing the child was missing from the back seat. — Renee Anderson, CBS News, 13 Aug. 2026

The book says that Davis obtained a handgun from an associate and tossed it into the back seat of the Cadillac but did not say who fired the fatal shots. — Jessica Hill, Los Angeles Times, 10 Aug. 2026

David looked out the window of the back seat, up at the stone façade. — Emma Cline, New Yorker, 9 Aug. 2026

Davis, sitting in the front seat, said Anderson, in the back seat, fired the fatal shots, according to the interview notes. — Eric Levenson, CNN Money, 9 Aug. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1715, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for back seat

• amit
• athlete
• backseat
• blackfeet
• broadsheet
• browbeat
• buckwheat
• compete
• compleat
• complete
• conceit
• concrete