1
as in advantage
the more favorable condition or position in a competition
your fluency in French should put you in the catbird seat for getting the Paris posting
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in center stage
the center of public attention
in the wake of the natural disaster, this obscure bureaucrat was suddenly and unexpectedly thrust into the catbird seat
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of catbird seat
The catbird seats were occupied instead by the titans of attention.
—
Ezra Klein, The Mercury News, 31 Jan. 2025
Seems to me that the Giants are in the catbird seat.
—Grant Brisbee, The Athletic, 24 July 2024
William Byron, on the other hand, is in the catbird seat among Hendrick Motorsports drivers and sits with a seven-point cushion above the cutoff line.
—Marco Rubio, Newsweek, 2 Nov. 2024
Brat is what happens when an auteur is given a budget and the catbird seat in the boardroom.
—Hazlitt, 17 July 2024
See All Example Sentences for catbird seat
Ezra Klein, The Mercury News, 31 Jan. 2025
Seems to me that the Giants are in the catbird seat.
—Grant Brisbee, The Athletic, 24 July 2024
William Byron, on the other hand, is in the catbird seat among Hendrick Motorsports drivers and sits with a seven-point cushion above the cutoff line.
—Marco Rubio, Newsweek, 2 Nov. 2024
Brat is what happens when an auteur is given a budget and the catbird seat in the boardroom.
—Hazlitt, 17 July 2024
See All Example Sentences for catbird seat
Recent Examples of Synonyms for catbird seat
Noun
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Charles Koch has long been a foe of protectionism and an evangelist for free markets, competitive advantage and mutual benefit.—
Philip Elliott,
Time,
2 May 2025
-
College of Charleston brought in EAB to help market those advantages.—
Ron Lieber,
New York Times,
1 May 2025
Noun
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Market uncertainty has massively increased as trade tariffs remain center stage for global investors.—
Jeff Kilburg,
CNBC,
11 Apr. 2025
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Students at Columbia University report a tense mood on campus after being center stage in the Trump administration’s multi-prong fight against protests at colleges around the country last year, including deportation efforts against some international students who took part in the demonstrations.—
Samantha Waldenberg,
CNN Money,
9 Apr. 2025
Noun
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Texas Tech After making a splash in the winter window, the Red Raiders have made key additions in the spring as well, landing Stanford edge rusher David Bailey and Colorado offensive lineman Cash Cleveland.—
Sam Khan Jr.,
New York Times,
28 Apr. 2025
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In a system plagued by fragmentation, mobile care can deliver both clinical impact and operational edge.—
Paulina Wierzbicka,
Forbes.com,
28 Apr. 2025
Noun
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Collier, along with fellow WNBA superstar Breanna Stewart, saw an opportunity to replace that outdated approach, and looked to create something that could not only benefit the players financially but also shine a spotlight on their skills and personalities.—
Ian Thomas,
CNBC,
24 Apr. 2025
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The 10-day gathering shines a spotlight on the technological prowess of China’s booming and cutthroat electric vehicle (EV) sector, which has shocked Western rivals not just with the speed of its innovation and growth, but also the quality of its value offerings.—
Simone McCarthy,
CNN Money,
23 Apr. 2025
Noun
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The increase could be a sign of buyers having an upper hand in the market, said Redfin’s Zhao.—
Ana Teresa Solá,
CNBC,
4 Mar. 2025
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In the process, employers have gained a significant upper hand.—
Jack Kelly,
Forbes,
29 Jan. 2025
Noun
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Typical Housing, downtown get top billing in Carter’s State of the City address Where are Gophers projected to go in NFL draft?—
Dane Mizutani,
Twin Cities,
22 Apr. 2025
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Now the food blogger from Charlotte, North Carolina, is getting top billing at the White House thanks to President Donald Trump and Kennedy's Make America Healthy Again agenda.—
Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy,
USA Today,
20 Apr. 2025
Noun
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Microsoft’s whip hand, more than anything, else, comes down to cold hard cash.—
Jeremy Kahn,
Fortune,
19 Nov. 2023
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The failure of the ‘red wave’ to materialize means that an old-fashioned socialist will have the whip hand over health care for the next two years.—
Joel Zinberg,
National Review,
30 Nov. 2022
Noun
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The reclusive actor, who retreated from Hollywood's limelight in recent years, publicly battled the disease for much of the past decade, permanently losing his voice to a tracheotomy, but continuing to act and write.—
Jay Stahl,
USA Today,
4 Apr. 2025
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The lawyers who constrained him, the generals who restrained him, the reporters who questioned him, the understudy who threatened him—the assorted producers and directors and designers and actors who had their own roles to play in the show—each, Trump fumed, dimmed his limelight.—
Megan Garber,
The Atlantic,
6 Mar. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Catbird seat.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/catbird%20seat. Accessed 6 May. 2025.
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