right-hand woman
1
4.7
- noun
- /ˈraɪtˌhænd ˈwʊmən/
:
mano derecha
- Without her trustworthy right-hand woman, the manager would struggle to keep up.
Examples
-
She relied on her right-hand woman to manage the team's daily operations.
-
As her boss's right-hand woman, she handled all the important projects.
-
Sarah is my right-hand woman in the office.
-
The CEO's right-hand woman manages all his appointments.
-
As the CEO's right-hand woman, Maria handled all major decisions with ease.
-
During the campaign, Sarah proved to be her boss's right-hand woman, always ready to assist.
-
The director's right-hand woman organized every detail of the production smoothly.
Synonyms
30
3.5
A person who helps a leader and is trusted with important work
A person who can be trusted to do important tasks carefully and well
How Important
Surface Forms
Morphology
right-hand + woman
The phrase builds on the conventional metaphor 'right hand' (the most useful or trusted limb) combined with 'woman', so the overall meaning 'trusted assistant' is partly inferable from the parts. However, this is a conventionalized figurative use rather than strictly compositional, so a B1 learner who only knows 'right', 'hand' and 'woman' may not reliably predict the exact meaning without exposure, although cross-linguistic parallels (e.g. 'mano derecha') can make it easier.
Etymology
Right-hand woman comes from the old image of a leader keeping their most trusted helper at their right hand, the side people use for action and support. So, the phrase means 'the most trusted and helpful assistant' today.