sidebar

noun

side·​bar ˈsīd-ˌbär 

1

a

: a short news story or graphic accompanying and presenting sidelights of a major story

b

: something incidental : sidelight

a sidebar to the essay's central theme

2

: a conference between the judge, the lawyers, and sometimes the parties to a case that the jury does not hear

Examples of sidebar in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Jury prizes will be awarded in the categories of domestic and international narrative and non-fiction films, shorts, and the NEXT sidebar (which promotes innovative approaches to storytelling). —David Morgan, CBS News, 22 Jan. 2026

Award-watchers will have an eye on Yellow Letters, the new feature from German director İlker Çatak, whose previous film, The Teacher’s Lounge, premiered in Berlin’s Panorama sidebar in 2023 and went on to score an Oscar nomination for best international feature. —Scott Roxborough, HollywoodReporter, 20 Jan. 2026

Despite the sidebars into prickly themes, the book never strays far from what its subtitle promises. —Literary Hub, 15 Jan. 2026

Jack Thorne’s Lord of the Flies adaptation and Isabel Allende’s The House of the Spirits will premiere at the Berlinale TV series sidebar. —Max Goldbart, Deadline, 14 Jan. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1928, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Rhymes for sidebar

• abattoir
• alcazar
• autocar
• avatar
• belshazzar
• caviar
• caviare
• cinnabar
• commissar
• condylar
• deodar
• handlebar

Legal Definition

sidebar

noun

side·​bar ˈsīd-ˌbär 

: sidebar conference

had failed to request a sidebar before injecting the collateral offense into the trial

—Dockery v. State, 659 So. 2d 219 (1994)

also : the place near or before the bench where a sidebar conference takes place

the judge informed both attorneys…that they…could stand at sidebar while questions were posed

—Commonwealth v. Urena, 632 N.E.2d 1200 (1994)

compare bench, stand

sidebar adjective