contender

noun

con·​tend·​er kən-ˈten-dər 

: one that contends

especially : a competitor for a championship or high honor

a heavyweight title contender

the leading presidential contenders

Synonyms of contender

• candidate

Examples of contender in a Sentence

There are several contestants, but only two real contenders.

This latest defeat means that she's no longer a contender for the world title.

Recent Examples on the Web

Other lawmakers from early-primary states are fielding calls from 2028 contenders looking to appear with them. — Nicholas Wu, semafor.com, 16 Sep. 2026

Teams in their sixth year of operation aren’t supposed to win with great regularity — especially not three of the past six crown-jewel races — or become perennial championship contenders. — Jordan Bianchi, New York Times, 15 Sep. 2026

South Korea selected Possible Love as its submission for the best international feature Oscar, and Netflix is positioning the film as one of its major awards contenders of the season. — Patrick Brzeski, HollywoodReporter, 14 Sep. 2026

Nobody's calling the Cardinals Super Bowl contenders, but there's suddenly lots of optimism for a franchise that hasn't had much of it recently. — ABC News, 14 Sep. 2026

Word History

Etymology

contend + -er entry 2

First Known Use

1547, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for contender

• bartender
• defender
• engender
• extender
• offender
• pretender
• provender
• surrender
• suspender
• transgender
• bender
• blender