finalist

American  

[fahyn-l-ist] / ˈfaɪn l ɪst /

noun

• finalists
  plural

1. a person entitled to participate in the final or decisive contest in a series, as in musical or athletic competition.

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finalist British  

/ ˈfaɪnəlɪst /

noun

1. a contestant who has reached the last and decisive stage of a sports or other competition

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• finalists
  plural

Etymology

Origin of finalist

First recorded in 1895–1900; final + -ist

Explanation

A finalist is a competitor who reaches the final game, match, or tournament. If your favorite sports team wins in the semi-finals, it means they're a finalist in the last game. A spelling bee finalist is likely to face some really tricky words, and a finalist in a pie-eating contest must be unbelievably good at quick chewing and swallowing. If you don't expect to win even one game in a chess competition, you'll be shocked to find yourself a finalist. An earlier meaning of the word was "one who believes the end has been reached."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

finalist finalists

The Northern Irish TV personality rose to fame in 2019 as a finalist on another dating show, Love Island, and more recently appeared on the US version of The Traitors.

From BBC ● Aug. 26, 2026

Sinner’s status remains murky—we could hear any minute now—but French Open winner and Wimbledon finalist Sasha Zverev has climbed into contention.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026

The 2006 team went 11-1, won the Pioneer League, and Harbaugh was a finalist for the Eddie Robinson Award, presented to the top coach in the FCS.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 5, 2026

The actor, who was also a finalist in “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” earned an Outer Critics Circle Award for her Off-Broadway play “Drag: The Musical,” which she co-wrote alongside Tomas Costanza and Ash Gordon.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 30, 2026

Irina Solovieva was 24 when she became a finalist for cosmonaut training.

From "Women in Space" by Karen Bush Gibson

Selected from 17 finalists on a 2025 competition reality show called “Santos Bravos — La Serie,” the contestants had vied to become part of Santos Bravos.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 24, 2026

Salah was part of the Egypt side that reached the 2026 World Cup last 16 before losing 3-2 to eventual finalists Argentina.

From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2026

It will be a fifth Finals Day in the past six years for Hampshire, who last won it in 2022 for a third time and were beaten finalists against Somerset last year.

From BBC ● Jul. 17, 2026

Six other Dodgers were finalists through the fan ballot, giving them a chance to claim starting spots in Phase 2 of voting.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 26, 2026

They keep chattering about what’s wrong with the other finalists.

From "Shine!" by J.J. and Chris Grabenstein