nominee

American  

[nom-uh-nee] / ˌnɒm əˈni /

noun

• nominees
  plural

1. a person nominated, as to run for elective office or fill a particular post.

2. a person in whose name title to real estate or ownership of stock is held but who is not the actual proprietor or holder.

---

nominee British  

/ ˌnɒmɪˈniː /

noun

1. a person who is nominated to an office or as a candidate

2. 1. a person or organization named to act on behalf of someone else, esp to conceal the identity of the nominator

   2. ( as modifier )

      nominee shareholder

---

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• nominees
  plural

---

Etymology

Origin of nominee

First recorded in 1655–65; nomin(ate) + -ee

---

Explanation

A nominee is someone running for office. You could be a nominee for student council or for the presidency. To nominate is to name or select someone as a candidate for office. In the United States, the primary elections help each party figure out who to nominate to run for office. That candidate is called the nominee. Once a nominee is selected, he or she runs against the sitting president. There are nominees at every level of government. Being a nominee is quite an honor, but it's not the ultimate goal: a nominee could still win or lose the election.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

nominee nominees

Back in 1988, after a D.C. journalist obtained and published a list of movies rented by Supreme Court nominee Robert Bork, a scandalized Congress passed the Video Privacy Protection Act.

From Slate ● Oct. 17, 2026

The fanfares are curated by Grammy nominee and singer Seth MacFarlane, best known as the creator and star of “Family Guy.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 6, 2026

Fromouth was one of the young Mainers who initially saw hope in former Democratic nominee for Senate Graham Platner, who energized voters with a pitch to rally against corruption regardless of their party affiliation.

From Salon ● Oct. 2, 2026

Paulina is intent on becoming the school’s nominee for the next Miss Ghana pageant, and, having handily snatched that crown, moving on to an international competition.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 30, 2026

By the end of the roll call, James Abram Garfield had won enough votes to become the Republican Party's nominee, beating out Grant, Blaine, and Sherman.

From "Ambushed!" by Gail Jarrow

Party elders once settled on state governors and army generals as presidential nominees.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 13, 2026

Speculation in Sweden's literary circles is already in full swing, fuelled by the fact that the list of nominees and the jury's deliberations are kept secret for 50 years.

From Barron's ● Oct. 1, 2026

Elsewhere, Senate nominees have walked a careful line on tariffs.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 25, 2026

His warning came as this year's nominees for the Earthshot Prize, the global environmental award he launched six years ago, were unveiled.

From BBC ● Sep. 18, 2026

The rest were nominees of large Protestant proprietors who returned members for every squalid hamlet on their estates, and kept their voters in the condition of tame dogs through a constant terror of ejectment.

From My Lords of Strogue, Vol. I (of III) A Chronicle of Ireland, from the Convention to the Union by Lewis Wingfield

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

---

Related Words

• applicant
• appointee
• aspirant
• contender
• contestant

---