backbenchernoun [ C ]
uk/ˌbækˈben.tʃər/us/ˌbækˈben.tʃɚ/backbencher noun [ C ] (MP)
a member of the UK parliament who does not have any official position in the government or in one of the opposing parties:
The advantage of being a backbencher is that you can speak your mind.
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frontbencher
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Government ministers & civil servants
- aide
- am
- attorney general
- cabinet
- chancellery
- Chancellor of the Exchequer
- government
- Home Secretary
- kitchen cabinet
- mandarin
- marshal
- minister
- public servant
- regulator
- secretary
- Secretary of State
- senior statesman
- servant
- the Privy Council
- Whitehall
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backbencher noun [ C ] (STUDENT)
Indian English also back-bencher a student who does not work hard or is not successful
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Failing and doing badly
- at-risk
- balls-up
- be running on empty idiom
- beat a dead horse idiom
- beta male
- crack
- crash
- draw
- fail
- fall apart
- fray around/at the edges idiom
- fumble
- get off on the right/wrong foot idiom
- give up on sb/sth
- go against sb
- sink like a stone idiom 1
- sink like a stone
- so much for sth idiom
- stagnate
- strike out
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