Priority: English Vocabulary List

a state of low priority where something is set aside to be dealt with later

"He puts his hobbies on the back burner while he works."

"He put his travel plans on the back burner while he focused on completing his degree."

to have more interesting or important matters to deal with

"I have bigger fish to fry."

"While this small issue is annoying, I have bigger fish to fry right now."

to begin talking about basic or important facts of a situation

"Let us get down to brass tacks."

"We have wasted enough time chatting so let us get down to brass tacks and discuss the budget."

used when one has to focus on the simplest and most important facts of a situation, particularly those that one was ignoring, in order to get the intended result

"Let's go back to basics."

"After the project failed, the team decided to go back to the basics of their strategy."

an individual who is not as important or influential as someone else in an organization

"He is tired of being the second banana to his boss."

"He was tired of being the second banana and wanted to lead his own project."

a person who does not receive as much attention or is not as influential as someone else in a group or organization

"He plays second fiddle."

"Despite his talent, he often played second fiddle to his more charismatic bandmate."

to accept a less important, less visible, or secondary role compared to someone else

"He decided to take a back seat and let me lead."

"After running the company for thirty years he decided to take a back seat and let others lead."

used to state that there are more important things that one must do or consider before trying to deal with other things

"First things first, call your mom."

"First things first we need to clean the kitchen before we can even think about cooking anything for dinner tonight."

in the position of utmost importance or high priority

"Safety is top of the list."

"Climate change is at the top of the agenda for many world leaders this year."

something that is not being thought about or considered, often due to more pressing or immediate concerns

"Money is the last thing on my mind."

"Getting married was the last thing on his mind because he was completely focused on building his career."

an alternative that is not as fulfilling or desirable as other options that one has

"She refuses to accept second best."

"She refuses to accept second best and will keep trying until she wins the championship."

to fail to keep on doing something

"Do not let dreams fall by the wayside."

"Many of his ambitious plans for the company eventually fell by the wayside due to lack of funding."

to see something as extremely necessary or important

"She sets great store by honesty."

"My grandmother sets great store by good manners and always criticises children who do not say please and thank you."

a state of high priority where something is dealt with immediately or given the most attention

"The urgent project is on the front burner until it is done."

"The manager put the customer complaint on the front burner until it was fully resolved."

to not have the same importance or urgency as something else

"It will fall by the wayside."

"With the overwhelming urgency of the current crisis, many less critical projects are unfortunately bound to fall by the wayside."