ride the coattails
ride the coattails verb: to succeed by virtue of association (with).
Verb
ride the coattails (third-person singular simple present rides the coattails, present participle riding the coattails, simple past rode the coattails, past participle ridden the coattails)
- To succeed by virtue of association (with).
- Further, some investors ride the coattails of investor giants, such as Warren Buffett, meaning they would frequently invest in the stocks Buffet invested in.2010, Robin Speziale, Lessons from the Successful Investor, page 53
- He had the reputation of a wannabe hardman, riding his cousin's coattails.2022, Liam McIlvanney, The Heretic, page 251
Forms of ride the coattails
| third-person singular present | rides the coattails |
|---|---|
| present participle | riding the coattails |
| past | rode the coattails |
| past participle | ridden the coattails |
Questions about ride the coattails
- What does ride the coattails mean?
- Ride the coattails means to succeed by virtue of association (with).
- What part of speech is ride the coattails?
- Ride the coattails is a verb.
- What is the past tense of ride the coattails?
- The past tense of ride the coattails is rode the coattails.
Words near ride the coattails in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: ride the coattails (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.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-au-ride the coattails.ogg.
Cite this entry: “ride the coattails.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/ride_the_coattails. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.