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:
Labour's candidate to replace him is the current leader of Manchester City Council, Bev Craig.
From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026
But Mr. Devine writes about these establishment shenanigans as though he was surprised that a candidate who attacked the establishment would invite a defense.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 26, 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
What I was learning, too, was that in the eyes of a campaign operation, any minutes or hours a candidate spends privately with family are viewed basically as a waste of that valuable time.
From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama
After the June primary election, California elections officials were criticized for taking about a week to determine which gubernatorial and Los Angeles mayoral candidates would advance to November’s runoff.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 27, 2026
Both candidates in New York’s governor’s race are campaigning on electricity costs.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 27, 2026
Although those candidates have drawn much attention, this is hardly a new trend.
From Salon ● Jul. 26, 2026
In fact, the process far predates the modern primary and was long a staple of how parties chose candidates.
From Slate ● Jul. 24, 2026
Chairman Mondalla explained that the board would hear from the two proposal candidates first and then from the members of the community who’d been sworn in.
From "The Epic Fail of Arturo Zamora" by Pablo Cartaya
When we think of it, what a ghoulish business "candidating" is!
From The Warriors by Lindsay, Anna Robertson Brown
The elder was filling the vacant pulpit that day by mere chance, as he told me; but I guess he was really candidating a little after all.
From Vandemark's Folly by Quick, Herbert
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
What said the elegant modern church, that during the process of this change was undergoing a candidating siege?
From Divers Women by Pansy
I believe the whole church is satisfied with the result of our peculiar method of candidating.
From Laicus; Or, the Experiences of a Layman in a Country Parish. by Abbott, Lyman
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.
