contender
Americannoun
-
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.
-
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.
Etymology
Origin of contender
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.
Vocabulary lists containing contender
Olympics Vocabulary for Champions
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The Greatest: Muhammad Ali
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Ungifted
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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.
Yet as more data arrives, Summit’s drug is looking less a Keytruda killer than a contender for a slice of its market.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 6, 2026
Peru's leftist presidential contender told AFP Friday that he wants "respectful" relations with US President Donald Trump, extending an olive branch ahead of Sunday's tight runoff election.
From Barron's • Jun. 5, 2026
The next likely contender for the award is “The Lost Boys,” a spectacle-heavy, bloated stage version of the B-movie from the 1980s about young vampires marauding in a California beach town.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 5, 2026
There’s even a contender in her category this year whose span between nominations would be longer than Danes’ lifetime: Sally Field, who appears in Netflix’s TV movie “Remarkably Bright Creatures.”
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 3, 2026
"Yourself. Anyone can be taught how to fight. A contender, that you have to do yourself."
From "The Contender" by Robert Lipsyte
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.
