back-seat

Noun

back seat (plural back seats)

1. Any of the seats in the rear of a vehicle.
   • Gotta catch my bus, I see my friends
     Kickin' in the front seat
     Sittin' in the back seat
     Gotta make my mind up
     Which seat can I take?2011, Rebecca Black featuring Patrice Wilson, Friday

   Synonyms:

   rearseat

2. (especially, informal) A lesser or inferior position; a position of deliberate noninvolvement, in which decision-making or leadership is left to others.
   • The bluntness of King Vajiralongkorn's intervention—and the determination it reveals to resist relatively small checks on royal power—is both a snub to the junta and a worry for democrats, some of whom had dared hope that the new king might be happy to take a back seat in public life.2017 January 14, “Thailand's new king rejects the army's proposed constitution”, in The Economist