bridesmaid

C2 Topic:People & Society

US /ˈbraɪdzˌmeɪd/ UK /ˈbraɪdzmeɪd/ See IPA manual

Freq #16490

Meanings

1

noun
a person, traditionally a woman, who attends and supports a bride at a wedding

Her sister agreed to serve as chief bridesmaid at the ceremony.
2

noun
figurative: a competitor who repeatedly comes close to winning but never finishes first

After three runner-up finishes, the club was tired of being the league's bridesmaid.
3

verb
to act as a bridesmaid for a bride

She will bridesmaid for her oldest friend in June.

Verb forms

Verb forms are not available for this word yet.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a person, traditionally a... bridal attendantmaid of honour

2 noun · figurative: a competitor... runner-up

3 verb · to act as a bridesmaid for... attend

Opposites

bride winner

Word family

Forms bridesmaids

Derived forms bridesmaidingbridesmatron

Related forms bride groomsman wedding

Appears in

Proverbs (1)

See all

Always a bridesmaid, never a bride

Etymology

From bride + the connective -s- + maid. The figurative sporting and competitive sense comes from the saying 'always a bridesmaid, never a bride' for someone who repeatedly finishes second.

Topics

People & Society

External links

# bridesmaid

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2
**Part of speech:** noun, verb
**IPA (US):** /ˈbraɪdzˌmeɪd/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈbraɪdzmeɪd/
**Frequency rank:** 16490

## Meanings
1. a person, traditionally a woman, who attends and supports a bride at a wedding
2. figurative: a competitor who repeatedly comes close to winning but never finishes first
3. to act as a bridesmaid for a bride

## Examples
- Her sister agreed to serve as chief bridesmaid at the ceremony.
- After three runner-up finishes, the club was tired of being the league's bridesmaid.
- She will bridesmaid for her oldest friend in June.

## Synonyms
- bridal attendant
- maid of honour
- runner-up

## Antonyms
- bride
- winner

## Derived Forms
- bridesmaiding
- bridesmatron

## Related Forms
- bride
- groomsman
- wedding

## Etymology
From bride + the connective -s- + maid. The figurative sporting and competitive sense comes from the saying 'always a bridesmaid, never a bride' for someone who repeatedly finishes second.

## Topics
- People & Society

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