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
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
Among the emerging contenders, perovskite/silicon tandem solar cells (TSCs) have garnered attention for their potential to outperform traditional silicon cells; however, scaling them up for commercial use remains a challenge.
—
Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 11 Nov. 2025
Tucker also wants to play for a contender, and no free agent will turn down an opportunity to play for the reigning World Series champions.
—Drew Vonscio, MSNBC Newsweek, 11 Nov. 2025
Robertas Petraitis, known from Lithuania’s 2026 Oscar contender The Southern Chronicles, stars as Andrius, who is full of grief and guilt after a masked intruder kills his secret lover Deividas (Elvinas Juodkazis), who is Lithuania’s most influential human rights activist.
—Georg Szalai, HollywoodReporter, 10 Nov. 2025
Connor Bedard, Wyatt Johnston and Robert Thomas currently qualify as the next three roster contenders.
—Chris Johnston, New York Times, 10 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for contender
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Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 11 Nov. 2025
Tucker also wants to play for a contender, and no free agent will turn down an opportunity to play for the reigning World Series champions.
—Drew Vonscio, MSNBC Newsweek, 11 Nov. 2025
Robertas Petraitis, known from Lithuania’s 2026 Oscar contender The Southern Chronicles, stars as Andrius, who is full of grief and guilt after a masked intruder kills his secret lover Deividas (Elvinas Juodkazis), who is Lithuania’s most influential human rights activist.
—Georg Szalai, HollywoodReporter, 10 Nov. 2025
Connor Bedard, Wyatt Johnston and Robert Thomas currently qualify as the next three roster contenders.
—Chris Johnston, New York Times, 10 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for contender
Cite this Entry
“Contender.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/contender. Accessed 12 Nov. 2025.
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