applicant
Americannoun
-
applicants
plural
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of applicant
First recorded in 1475–85, applicant is from the Latin word applicant- (stem of applicāns applying, present participle of applicāre ). See apply, -ant
Explanation
An applicant is someone who signs up or applies for something. A job applicant for example, often fills out a form and then interviews for the position she hopes to get. When you submit your college application to a school you'd like to attend, you are an applicant to that school. Other kinds of applicants are job candidates and scholarship hopefuls. To apply is to put in for or request entry to something, and the root of both apply and applicant is the Old French aploiier, "apply, use, or attach," from the Latin applicare, "attach to, join, or connect."
Vocabulary lists containing applicant
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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:
Some assessments had remarkably tight deadlines, which Weis believed was an effort to thin the applicant pool.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 17, 2026
Having lived in Japan for a decade, permanent residency applicant Chono said he saw both sides of the debate but that the country needed young people "to support its future".
From Barron's ● Oct. 1, 2026
"The information which was considered was also materially disadvantageous to the applicant."
From BBC ● Sep. 20, 2026
The department said it also analyzed applicant data from 2021 through 2025.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 9, 2026
And suppose the applicant is a black man.
From "Blink" by Malcolm Gladwell
Weis and many job candidates I interviewed described job interviews that happened without humans—the applicants made a video recording of themselves responding to questions posed digitally on the call.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 17, 2026
As employers are inundated with hundreds of applications, many made with AI or facilitated by it, companies are likewise employing AI tools to screen applicants.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 17, 2026
Norfolk County Council said there was no renewal process and that applicants had to provide evidence with each application, to prove ongoing eligibility.
From BBC ● Oct. 14, 2026
The CoC board, which includes representatives of homeless services contractors, hired outside consultants to set up an emergency bidding process and score the applicants.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 10, 2026
If such work existed in Atlanta for unskilled applicants who spoke no English, Generose had yet to find it.
From "Outcasts United: An American Town, a Refugee Team, and One Woman's Quest to Make a Difference" by Warren St. John
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
