contest
Americannoun
-
contests
plural
-
a race, conflict, or other competition between rivals, as for a prize.
- Synonyms:
- game, tourney, tournament, match, rivalry, contention
-
struggle for victory or superiority.
-
vigorous or bitter conflict in argument; dispute; controversy.
Their marriage was marred by perpetual contest.
- Synonyms:
- opposition, disagreement, difference, clash, altercation, antagonism, discord, strife
verb (used with object)
-
contests,
present (3rd person singular)
-
contested,
past participle, past
-
contesting
present participle
verb (used without object)
-
contests,
present (3rd person singular)
-
contested,
past participle, past
-
contesting
present participle
noun
-
a formal game or match in which two or more people, teams, etc, compete and attempt to win
-
a struggle for victory between opposing forces or interests
verb
-
(tr) to try to disprove; call in question
-
to fight, dispute, or contend (with)
contest an election
Synonym Usage
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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contestablenessnoun
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contestationnoun
-
contesternoun
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precontestnoun
-
subcontestnoun
-
supercontestnoun
-
recontestverb
-
precontestverb (used with object)
-
supercontestverb (used with object)
-
contestableadjective
-
uncontestableadjective
-
contestablyadverb
-
contestinglyadverb
-
uncontestablyadverb
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
contestsimple
-
contestssimple
-
have contestedperfect
-
has contestedperfect
-
am contestingprogressive
-
are contestingprogressive
-
is contestingprogressive
-
have been contestingperfect progressive
-
has been contestingperfect progressive
Past
-
contestedsimple
-
had contestedperfect
-
was contestingprogressive
-
were contestingprogressive
-
had been contestingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of contest
First recorded in 1595–1605; (verb) from Latin contestāri “to call to witness (in a lawsuit),” equivalent to con- con- + testārī “to testify, ” derivative of testis witness; the noun is derivative of the verb, or is from French conteste
Explanation
A contest is a struggle to determine who's tops –- you might wrestle an alligator in a contest of brute strength versus strategy. You can also enter a contest — a yodeling contest or a cake-decorating contest, depending on your talents. If you're being sued and you respond to the court order saying "no contest," you're saying you're not going to put up a fight. When you put the accent on the second syllable, contest becomes a verb, and it means to dispute something. You lost the election for class president, but you think there was something fishy going on at the ballot box, so you contest the results and ask for a recount.
Vocabulary lists containing contest
Beowulf vocabulary
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Thomas Jefferson's First Inaugural Address (1801)
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Orbiting Jupiter
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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.
See Examples For:
The observatory will also help scientists better understand the cosmic tug-of-war between invisible “dark matter” and “dark energy” — a contest whose outcome could either expand or collapse the universe.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 28, 2026
But on Monday, he pleaded no contest to only the former charge and a new misdemeanor — disorderly conduct.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 27, 2026
She once quietly entered a Dolly Parton drag queen look-alike contest -- and lost.
From Barron's ● Aug. 26, 2026
On Saturday he suited up for his first professional game, a preseason contest against the Buffalo Bills.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 25, 2026
"Wasn't it worth missing the contest to see Mr. Kravitz get that hotfoot?" he asked hopefully.
From "Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher" by Bruce Coville
Baleba's game is better suited to more open contests, but his passing profile suggests he may need time to adjust to greater responsibility in build-up.
From BBC ● Aug. 25, 2026
The kids who lose these contests aren’t chosen at random.
From Slate ● Aug. 21, 2026
The family’s future is in limbo as Jeanie Buss contests her five siblings’ plans to sell their remaining stake of the team.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 21, 2026
Palm Beach County voting records cited by US media show Trump requested a ballot in late July and returned it last week for the contests in his adopted home state.
From Barron's ● Aug. 18, 2026
Bobby lost games he should have drawn and drew contests he should have won.
From "Endgame" by Frank Brady
China has long dispatched coast guard and research ships around the Asia-Pacific region, particularly in the hotly contested South China Sea, where Beijing and several littoral countries have competing claims.
From Barron's ● Aug. 27, 2026
Wendelken, who has never contested the main draw at an overseas major, saved a match point to come through a three-hour tussle with Switzerland's Remy Bertola.
From BBC ● Aug. 27, 2026
It is unclear whether the Louisiana ruling covering Hendrick’s transfer will be contested.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 23, 2026
The profusion of killing leads Mr. Winder to describe the contested Rhineland, across which so many rival armies have fought, as “a battlefield interrupted, every now and then, by a truce.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026
The race, contested before ten thousand fans, was a barn burner.
From "Unbroken" by Laura Hillenbrand
Randy Mastro, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, filed a letter on Tuesday contesting the automatic stay and maintaining that the court’s emergency pause is still in effect.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 11, 2026
That history is why contesting the constitutional allocation of public safety cannot mean giving private people authority to govern vulnerable people.
From Slate ● Jul. 27, 2026
“Waymo reviews all received citations and may engage with the court to address and resolve them, including contesting cases on their merit if we believe they were issued erroneously,” a company spokesman said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 27, 2026
Labour, the Conservatives, the Liberal Democrats, the Green Party and Restore Britain have all ruled out contesting the Clacton by-election.
From BBC ● Jul. 8, 2026
We began a long and detailed argument contesting the indictment itself.
From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela
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.
