front runner
Americannoun
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a person who leads in any competition.
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an entrant in a race who breaks to the front immediately and establishes the pace for the field.
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an entrant in a race who performs well only when ahead of the field.
Etymology
Origin of front runner
An Americanism dating back to 1935–40
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.
Paramount had initially been viewed as a front runner in the deal given the close ties its CEO, David Ellison, and his father, Oracle Corp.
From MarketWatch • Dec. 8, 2025
Paramount had initially been viewed as a front runner in the deal given the close ties Ellison and his father, Oracle Corp.
From MarketWatch • Dec. 8, 2025
With Kamala Harris out of the California governor’s race, other candidates are jockeying to be seen as the new front runner.
From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 4, 2025
The first two leadership ballots of Conservative MPs made him the front runner in the race to succeed Rishi Sunak.
From BBC • Oct. 6, 2024
Twice champion of the USSR, he’d won the 1958 Portorož Interzonal, becoming a front runner to play the incumbent titleholder, Mikhail Botvinnik, for the World Championship in 1960.
From "Endgame" by Frank Brady
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.
