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coattails

coat·tail
C c

Transcription

    • US Pronunciation
    • US IPA
    • UK Pronunciation
    • UK IPA
    • [koht-teyl]
    • /ˈkoʊtˌteɪl/
    • /ˈkotˌtelz/
    • US Pronunciation
    • US IPA
    • [koht-teyl]
    • /ˈkoʊtˌteɪl/

Definitions of coattails word

  • phrase 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. 3
  • noun coattails the back of the skirt on a man's coat or jacket. 1
  • noun coattails one of the two back parts of the skirt of a coat, especially one of the tails on a tail coat. 1
  • adjective coattails gained by association with another, especially with a successful or celebrated person: coattail benefits. 1
  • idioms coattails on someone's coattails, aided by association with another person: The senator rode into office on the president's coattails. 1
  • idioms coattails on the coattails of, immediately after or as a result of: His decline in popularity followed on the coattails of the scandal. 1

Information block about the term

Origin of coattails

First appearance:

before 1590
One of the 37% oldest English words
First recorded in 1590-1600; coat + tail1

Historical Comparancy

Parts of speech for Coattails

noun
adjective
verb
adverb
pronoun
preposition
conjunction
determiner
exclamation

coattails 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.

coattails usage trend in Literature

This diagram is provided by Google Ngram Viewer

Synonyms for coattails

noun coattails

  • 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.
  • ministration — the act of ministering care, aid, religious service, etc.

Top questions with coattails

  • what does coattails mean?
  • what are coattails?

See also

Matching words

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