coattail

coat·tail

C c

Transcription

- US Pronunciation
- US IPA
- [koht-teyl]
- /ˈkoʊtˌteɪl/

- US Pronunciation
- US IPA
- [koht-teyl]
- /ˈkoʊtˌteɪl/

Definitions of coattail word

noun coattail the back part of a coat below the waist; esp., either half of this part when divided, as on a swallow-tailed coat 3
noun coattail the back of the skirt on a man's coat or jacket. 1
noun coattail one of the two back parts of the skirt of a coat, especially one of the tails on a tail coat. 1
adjective coattail gained by association with another, especially with a successful or celebrated person: coattail benefits. 1
idioms coattail on someone's coattails, aided by association with another person: The senator rode into office on the president's coattails. 1
idioms coattail on the coattails of, immediately after or as a result of: His decline in popularity followed on the coattails of the scandal. 1

See all 9 definitions of coattail

Information block about the term

Origin of coattail

First appearance:

before 1590

One of the 37% oldest English words

First recorded in 1590-1600; coat + tail1

Historical Comparancy

Parts of speech for Coattail

noun

adjective

verb

adverb

pronoun

preposition

conjunction

determiner

exclamation

Full grammatical hierarchy of Coattail

coattail popularity

A pretty common term. Usually people know it’s meaning, but prefer to use a more spread out synonym. About 69% of English native speakers know the meaning and use word.

This word is included in each student's vocabulary. Most likely there is at least one movie with this word in the title.

coattail usage trend in Literature

This diagram is provided by Google Ngram Viewer

Synonyms for coattail

noun coattail

aid — Aid is money, equipment, or services that are provided for people, countries, or organizations who need them but cannot provide them for themselves.
instrumentality — the quality or state of being instrumental.
intervention — the act or fact of intervening.
support — to bear or hold up (a load, mass, structure, part, etc.); serve as a foundation for.
coattails — If you do something on the coattails of someone else, you are able to do it because of the other person's success, and not because of your own efforts.

All 9 Synonyms of coattail