runner-up
Americannoun
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the competitor, player, or team finishing in second place, as in a race, contest, or tournament.
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runners-up, the competitors who do not win a contest but who place ahead of the majority of the contestants and share in prizes or honors, as those who place second, third, and fourth, or in the top ten.
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of runner-up
First recorded in 1835–45
Explanation
In a competition, the runner-up is usually the person who comes in second place. In the Olympics, an athlete who wins a silver medal can be called a runner-up. In beauty pageants, there are often first, second, and third-place winners, followed by a runner-up. At the state fair, if your pig gets a blue ribbon and your sister's gets a red one, it means your pig won, and your sister's pig was the runner-up. The earliest use of this word, in the 1840s, was in dog racing.
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.
The first round of voting on April 12 featured a record 35 candidates vying for the presidency, with Fujimori ultimately gaining 17.1 percent of the vote, while runner-up Pedro Sanchez captured 12 percent.
From Barron's • May 31, 2026
PT Sunday when the Bruins face either Texas Tech, the defending national runner-up, or Tennessee.
From Los Angeles Times • May 30, 2026
Sinner, last year’s runner-up here, knew he needed to keep rallies short where he could—he had no intention of repeating the 5-hour adventure he had on court in the 2025 final against Alcaraz.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 28, 2026
The season was chock-full of cameos from celebrities like Billie Eilish and Sia, and included former “Survivor” runner-up and “White Lotus” creator Mike White as a contestant.
From Los Angeles Times • May 21, 2026
There, dressed up as kindly old Mother Paula herself, was none other than Kimberly Lou Dixon, the former Miss America runner-up.
From "Hoot" by Carl Hiaasen
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.
