nominee
Americannoun
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a person nominated, as to run for elective office or fill a particular post.
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a person in whose name title to real estate or ownership of stock is held but who is not the actual proprietor or holder.
noun
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a person who is nominated to an office or as a candidate
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a person or organization named to act on behalf of someone else, esp to conceal the identity of the nominator
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( as modifier )
nominee shareholder
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Etymology
Origin of nominee
First recorded in 1655–65; nomin(ate) + -ee
Explanation
A nominee is someone running for office. You could be a nominee for student council or for the presidency. To nominate is to name or select someone as a candidate for office. In the United States, the primary elections help each party figure out who to nominate to run for office. That candidate is called the nominee. Once a nominee is selected, he or she runs against the sitting president. There are nominees at every level of government. Being a nominee is quite an honor, but it's not the ultimate goal: a nominee could still win or lose the election.
Vocabulary lists containing nominee
Electoral Elocution: The Verbiage of Voting
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Academy Awards, List 1
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This Week In Words: Current Events Vocab for January 16–22, 2021
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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.
Menefee’s win came at the same time as Letitia Plummer, who beat seasoned politician and former Houston mayor, Annise Parker, to become the Democratic nominee for Harris County judge, the highest-ranking official in county government.
From Salon • Jun. 7, 2026
Platner, 41 years old, has improbably become the Democratic Party’s presumed nominee in one of its most important Senate elections.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 6, 2026
Aston Villa forward Kirsty Hanson is the sixth and final nominee, having scored 12 goals in 22 matches for the Villans.
From BBC • Jun. 5, 2026
Powell stepped down as chair at the end of his term earlier this month, and has been succeeded by Trump nominee Kevin Warsh.
From Barron's • Jun. 1, 2026
By the end of the roll call, James Abram Garfield had won enough votes to become the Republican Party's nominee, beating out Grant, Blaine, and Sherman.
From "Ambushed!" by Gail Jarrow
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
