challenger
Americannoun
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challengers
plural
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a person or thing that challenges.
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Boxing. a boxer who fights a champion for his championship title.
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Radio. interrogator.
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U.S. Aerospace. none Challenger the second space shuttle to orbit and return to earth: exploded 1½ min. after launch on Jan. 28, 1986, causing the death of all seven on board.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of challenger
Middle English word dating back to 1250–1300; see origin at challenge, -er 1
Explanation
Challengers don’t let things stay the way they are, they go against something already in place, like a rule or the score on the scoreboard. Or they go after the same thing you may want, like victory in a competition or even the parking spot you were waiting for. In earlier history, during the Middle Ages, a challenger was mostly a dreaded foe or someone who wanted to fight to the death with a sword. Some challengers want to challenge the truth or rightness of something, and that can be pretty serious too. In modern times, though, the word challenger often describes competitors who want to challenge each other in sports, on TV game shows, or in arguments. These challengers enjoy the challenge itself.
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:
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and her challenger Nithya Raman darted across the city over the weekend, foraging for votes as the clock ticks down before Tuesday’s election.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 1, 2026
She was also holding a stack of yard signs for Cait Conley, the Democratic challenger in New York’s 17th Congressional District.
From Salon ● Nov. 1, 2026
He pulled away from his last challenger, Crippa, in the final mile.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 1, 2026
That consensus is shrinking the room for maneuver for the 66-year-old Eisenkot, who formed his centrist party last year and is now Netanyahu’s main challenger.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 27, 2026
The challenger went over backwards in sudden collapse, with nothing on his face but blank, blank surprise.
From "I, Robot" by Isaac Asimov
Emery was handed carte blanche to change Villa when he was appointed as Steven Gerrard's successor, and he has transformed them from Premier League strugglers to Europa League winners and Champions League challengers.
From BBC ● Nov. 3, 2026
They’d come to see Johnson appear with De La Cruz and two Republican challengers: Tano Tijerina, a much vaunted recruit running against Cuellar, and Eric Flores, the GOP hope for unseating Gonzalez.
From Slate ● Nov. 2, 2026
The gloomy climate at City Hall drew in mayoral challengers, including Austin Beutner, a former Los Angeles Unified School District superintendent and Los Angeles Times publisher, and leftist organizer Rae Huang.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 1, 2026
Walmart and Amazon have become more formidable challengers since then.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 26, 2026
Here and there a loop stuck out, maybe big enough to stick your pinky finger through, pitiful testimony to the challengers who had tried and failed.
From "Maniac Magee" by Jerry Spinelli
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