The Collaborative International Dictionary
coattails \coattails\ n. pl. [fig.] the influence of another person; the effect of association with another person; as, he was elected to office on the president's coattails. on the coattails of
helped by association with another person. See coattails.
caused by, or immediately following (an event).
Usage examples of "on the coattails of".
And Dominica intended to vault herself to fame and fortune on the coattails of their murderous partnership.
His rival, Stephen Piccolomini, had won the presidency riding on the coattails of the retiring incumbent, but he had not rolled up the expected landslide.
And now here he was stuck on the coattails of an irascible and ungrateful Kha-gggun who had become the new Star-Admiral through nothing more mysterious than the sheer force of his belligerence and vindictive nature.
He was admitted to the manager's office at once and greeted by Ed Mullard, a grizzled oldster who had spent his life scratching for pay dirt and finally rode to riches on the coattails of someone luckier than he who found the Laughingstock claim.
The argument went on that way with Strauss saying that Nemur had his eye on the Chair of Psychology at Hallston, and Nemur saying that Strauss was riding on the coattails of his psychological research.