candidate
Americannoun
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a person who seeks an office, honor, etc..
a candidate for governor.
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a person who is selected by others as a contestant for an office, honor, etc.
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a person who is deserving of or seems destined for a certain end or fate.
Such a reckless spender is a candidate for the poorhouse.
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a student studying for a degree.
Candidates for the B.A. will have to meet certain minimum requirements.
verb (used without object)
noun
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a person seeking or nominated for election to a position of authority or honour or selection for a job, promotion, etc
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a person taking an examination or test
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a person or thing regarded as suitable or likely for a particular fate or position
this wine is a candidate for his cellar
Usage
What does candidate mean? Candidate most commonly means someone who’s seeking to be elected, hired, or appointed to a position, especially a political office or job. The word candidate most commonly refers to a politician seeking election or a person who has applied for a job. But it can be used in several other ways to refer to someone or something under consideration for some kind of treatment or status. Example: We have more than 100 applicants, but almost none of them are qualified candidates for this job.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of candidate
First recorded in 1605–15, candidate is from the Latin word candidātus “clothed in white” (adective), “candidate for office” (noun, in reference to the white togas worn by those seeking office); see candid, -ate 1
Explanation
A candidate is someone running for political office — or anyone being considered for a position or opportunity of some sort. When you hear about candidates, it's usually in discussions of politics. People are always wondering, "Who will be the candidates in the next Presidential election?" Every President, and every office-holder, was once a candidate. When you're a candidate, you raise money, hold rallies, make campaign promises, and do everything you can to win. You can also say someone is a candidate for a job, prize, and other things. Someone could jokingly say, "He's a candidate to be my next husband."
Vocabulary lists containing candidate
Election Lingo
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Electoral Elocution: The Verbiage of Voting
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Commonly Misspelled Words, List 2
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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.
See Examples For:
Andrea Pirlo has said he is no longer a candidate to coach the Italian national side following days of controversy over his ties to a Russian betting company.
From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026
His discipline and attention to detail, mixed with the athleticism Randolph noticed when watching him play basketball, made Wallace the perfect candidate to play football.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 25, 2026
Brazil's right-wing Liberal Party on Saturday formally nominated Flavio Bolsonaro, a 45-year-old senator and son of imprisoned ex-president Jair Bolsonaro, as its candidate in the October presidential election.
From Barron's ● Jul. 25, 2026
Macquarie’s bull at Jefferies thinks the appointment of an internal candidate as CEO reduces risks of a material near-term strategy shift.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026
I’d never been invited to gymnastics camp at Bela and Martha Karolyi’s sprawling ranch in Huntsville, which meant I hadn’t been identified as a possible candidate for a spot on the USAG’s national team.
From "Courage to Soar" by Simone Biles
Both candidates in New York’s governor’s race are campaigning on electricity costs.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 27, 2026
Pelosi was one of 14 candidates, several of them well-known Democratic officeholders.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 26, 2026
Among 15 first-time candidates from Texas who could be in Congress next year and who disclosed their assets, the median estimated net worth was $3.34 million.
From Salon ● Jul. 24, 2026
It’s rare that candidates are nominated through conventions, which are often opportunities for endless speeches—much like the quadrennial political conventions that national parties hold to ratify their nominees.
From Slate ● Jul. 24, 2026
Other candidates had tried the log cabin tactic, too.
From "Ambushed!" by Gail Jarrow
He once told me of an early experience in candidating.
From A Backward Glance at Eighty Recollections & comment by Murdock, Charles A. (Charles Albert)
I don't believe in candidating, and I can't be accessory to it.
From Laicus; Or, the Experiences of a Layman in a Country Parish. by Abbott, Lyman
It was when I was candidating for my first parish that I preached at a little village down in Pennsylvania.
From Harper's Round Table, October 1, 1895 by Various
After a little rest and some candidating for a church, I took a small parish at Highland Falls, about a mile from West Point, New York, entering on my labors in January, 1866.
From Taken Alive by Roe, Edward Payson
"The minister who is candidating can't be too careful what text he chooses," said Miss Cornelia solemnly.
From Rainbow Valley by Montgomery, L. M. (Lucy Maud)
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.
