also-ran

noun

al·​so-ran ˈȯl(t)-(ˌ)sō-ˌran 

ˈȯ-

1

: a horse or dog that finishes out of the money in a race

2

: a contestant that does not win

3

: one that is of little importance especially competitively

… taking the club from an also-ran to a dominant force.

—Pan Pylas

Examples of also-ran in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Google’s cloud business, once an also-ran, is growing steadily, thanks in part to the global rush to develop AI services and demand for compute. —Mark Bergen, Fortune, 25 Nov. 2025

Josh Young placed fifth with 2,420 votes and Sheyvette Dinkens rounded out the list of also-rans with 2,325 votes. —Matthew Kelly, Kansas City Star, 5 Nov. 2025

Injuries have taken their toll, but even tied for the division, the Chargers still seem capped as AFC West also-rans. —J.j. Bailey, New York Times, 19 Oct. 2025

Instead, he feels treated as an also-ran in St. Paul’s five-way mayor’s race, which culminates with the Nov. 4 election. —Frederick Melo, Twin Cities, 19 Oct. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1892, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

also-ran

noun

al·​so-ran

-ˌran

1

: a horse or dog that does not finish in the first three places in a race

2

: a contestant that does not win