Idioms & Expressions
top banana
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In short
Top banana is an informal term for the leading person in an organization or performance. It originally referred to the star comedian in a burlesque show, and can now mean the boss or person in charge.
The expression is usually playful and sometimes mildly mocking.
01 Meaning
What does top banana mean?
From the stage to the office
Burlesque comedians had a ranking vocabulary: top banana was the featured comic, while a second banana played a supporting part, often setting up the star’s jokes. This contrast is more informative than treating the phrase as just another synonym for boss. Dictionary.com dates second banana to the early 1950s, and the exact reason performers were called bananas remains disputed.
Second banana
The supporting role survives in the phrase second banana, which can describe any person playing second fiddle to a more prominent figure. Big cheese covers similar ground for the person in charge, but it has no stage-comedy sense.
02 Word origin
Where does it come from?
The phrase comes from American show-business slang for the leading comedian in burlesque. The exact reason banana became part of the expression is not firmly established, so explanations of the image should be treated cautiously.
03 In context
How to use it in a sentence
“After years as an assistant, she became the top banana at the studio.”
“The top banana got the biggest laugh at the end of the comedy show.”
Sources and updates
- second banana, Dictionary.com. Checked October 21, 2026.
- top banana, Collins English Dictionary. Checked October 21, 2026.
- top banana, Merriam-Webster. Checked October 21, 2026.
Definitions and examples are written in our own words from the sources above. Published .