Synonyms

in the driver's seat

Idioms

Also, in the saddle. In control, in a position of authority. For example, With the boss on vacation, Mr. Burns was in the driver's seat and enjoying it, or She waited until after the election, knowing that she'd be in the saddle then. The first expression dates from the 1800s, the second from the early 1600s. Also see at the helm.

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Friday’s bond-market moves are “screaming that job and growth fears are in the driver’s seat. The catalyst is pretty obvious: It is the great AI scare, which jumped a firewall from being a tech-sector story to being a macro story,” Ahn said in a phone interview.

From MarketWatch

According to Tesla’s marketing materials for Autopilot and Full Self-Drive mode, “the system is designed to be able to conduct short and long-distance trips with no action required by the person in the driver’s seat.”

From Los Angeles Times

For months, Netflix has been in the driver’s seat of an industry-shaking effort to acquire Warner Bros.

From MarketWatch

A key factor will be whether enough market froth has been removed—and enough speculative positions washed out—to put fundamentals back in the driver’s seat.

From The Wall Street Journal

They come through speakers in the driver’s seat headrest, while the song or podcast keeps playing everywhere else.

From The Wall Street Journal

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023