contender

American  

[kuhn-ten-der] / kənˈtɛn dər /

noun

• contenders
  plural

1. a person or group that competes against others to win something; contestant.

   The three remaining contenders for the Democratic Party nomination met for a televised debate.

2. a person or group with a good chance of success in a contest.

   After last season’s disaster, the Texas team needed to convince me they were a contender.

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• contenders
  plural

Etymology

Origin of contender

contend ( def. ) + -er ¹ ( def. )

Explanation

Baseball players, boxers, politicians: each is a contender in that they compete or campaign to win something. Contender has a slightly different meaning than competitor, often implying a more vigorous, even scrappier, sense of taking on every unexpected challenge. The most famous use of contender is Marlon Brando's quote in the film On The Waterfront. Brando plays a once promising boxer whose career has been ruined by a fixed fight. "I coulda been a contender!" Brando cried, implying he could have been the boxer whom everyone wanted to defeat.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

contender contenders

On Monday, the campaign said that later this month the Senate contender would be campaigning alongside former President Barack Obama.

From Slate ● Oct. 7, 2026

Last season alone, Ballon d'Or contender Kane scored a remarkable 73 goals in 65 games for England and his club Bayern Munich.

From BBC ● Oct. 5, 2026

Meanwhile: OpenAI released its latest contender in the AI-assistant race with Dots, always-on agents that will work in the background to complete tasks on users’ behalf.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 30, 2026

As a result, Moicano will now face No. 11-ranked contender Tom Nolan in the main event of UFC Fight Night, which will take place on Oct.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 19, 2026

"He had a fight with a top contender, an Italian kid, and lost. The next day, in the papers, the contender said he won because he sang along with opera."

From "The Contender" by Robert Lipsyte

Molecules that regulate sleep and appetite or methods for editing genes are some of the research fields commentators say could be contenders for the Nobel Prize in Chemistry announced Wednesday.

From Barron's ● Oct. 7, 2026

At the Bulwark, Sarah Longwell notes that a recent New York Times/Siena poll found El-Sayed with support from 8% of 2024 Trump voters, better than more moderate Democratic Senate contenders in Maine and New Hampshire.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 1, 2026

And with that, he believes the Lakers can be championship contenders.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 30, 2026

The Denver Broncos and the Los Angeles Rams remain potential Super Bowl contenders after losing last season's Conference Championship games.

From BBC ● Sep. 28, 2026

The two biggest were poster-sized campaign portraits of the presidential contenders in this fall’s election, Judge Alton B. Parker and President Theodore Roosevelt, framed.

From "The Teacher’s Funeral" by Richard Peck

Related Words

• adversary
• challenger
• competition
• contestant
• opponent
• rival