sidekick
/ˈsaɪdkɪk/noun
sidekick is spelled S-I-D-E-K-I-C-K: 8 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 1.7 times per million words in written English, the 21,209th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, sidekick means “An assistant to another person, especially to a superior or more important person” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of sidekick is sidekicks.
How many letters and syllables are in sidekick?
| Letters | 8: S-I-D-E-K-I-C-K |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 1.7 times per million words; the 21,209th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is sidekick?
Sidekick appears 1.7 times per million words in written English, the 21,209th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce sidekick?
- /ˈsaɪdkɪk/
Sidekick has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-AnotherFriendlyHuman-sidekick.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of sidekick
- sidekicks plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does sidekick mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
informalAn assistant to another person, especially to a superior or more important person.
- 2
In literature, theatre, etc., a good foil of the protagonist, a character who helps emphasize the traits of the main character.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Sidekick in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense assistant:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | faire-valoir, acolyte |
| German | Kumpan, Kumpanin |
| Portuguese | acólito, companheiro, parceiro |
| Spanish | achichintle, achichincle, achichinque, adlátere |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does sidekick come from?
From side + kick, which in the late 19th and early 20th century was a slang term for the front side pocket of a pair of trousers, known as the pocket safest from theft. Thus, by analogy, a "side-kick" was a person's closest companion.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).