Word.ws English Dictionary

always a bridesmaid, never a bride

always a bridesmaid, never a bride phrase: said of a person who has potential that is never fulfilled.

Phrase

always a bridesmaid, never a bride

  1. Said of a person who has potential that is never fulfilled.
    • Sword Dancer seemed destined to be always a bridesmaid, never a bride, after losing the Kentucky derby by a nose to Tomy Lee and finishing second, beaten four lengths, to Royal Orbit in the Preakness.1959 June 15, “After Belmont Mishap: Sore but Chipper is Eddie Arcaro”, in The Spokesman-Review, retrieved 10 Apr 2013, page 10
    • "[…]But he was always a bridesmaid, never a bride. He 'assisted.' He wrote pamphlets. He even ghosted biographies for some of the biggies. But he never really got his career off the rocks until Sally died. So he wrote romances for the money."1997, Jaqueline Girdner, A Cry for Self Help, page 137
  2. Said of a woman who has (presumedly) acted as bridesmaid at weddings but has not yet married.

Forms of always a bridesmaid, never a bride

alternative formalways the bridesmaid, never the bride

Origin of always a bridesmaid, never a bride

Title of an English music-hall song (1917) by Charles Collins. Later used in an advertisement in the US for Listerine mouthwash (implying that the use of mouthwash could improve a woman's chances of marriage).

Questions about always a bridesmaid, never a bride

What does always a bridesmaid, never a bride mean?
Always a bridesmaid, never a bride means said of a person who has potential that is never fulfilled.
What part of speech is always a bridesmaid, never a bride?
Always a bridesmaid, never a bride is a phrase.

Words near always a bridesmaid, never a bride in the dictionary

  1. alway
  2. alwayes
  3. alwayez
  4. alwayness
  5. always
  6. always a bridesmaid, never a bride
  7. always already
  8. always the bridesmaid, never the bride
  9. always was, always will be
  10. always-on
  11. alwaysness

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: always a bridesmaid, never a bride (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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