Backbencher

noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A Member of Parliament who does not have cabinet rank, and who therefore sits on one of the backbenches or in one of the back rows of the legislature.
  2. 2
    a member of the House of Commons who is not a party leader wordnet
  3. 3
    A student who does not perform well, especially one who sits at the back of the classroom.

    "Classmates naturally turn to look at the backbencher, who must acknowledge his presence, with some embarrassment."

  4. 4
    A member of a team who does not usually play, but who is held in reserve.

    "During 1994, the national team players were away for a game in January and again during the season-ending league championship tournament in April. The “backbenchers” won all these games."

  5. 5
    Someone who does not play an active role in a process. broadly

    "As we stated in previous chapters, counselors and other student support personnel have been backbenchers in the ongoing drama of school reform."

Synonyms

All synonyms
frontbencher

Example

More examples

"Classmates naturally turn to look at the backbencher, who must acknowledge his presence, with some embarrassment."

Etymology

From backbench + -er.

Related phrases

member of parliament

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.