Synonyms of candidates

candidates

noun

plural of candidate

as in applicants

one who seeks an office, honor, position, or award

each candidate for town council was allowed to speak at the candidates' forum

Synonyms & Similar Words

• applicants
• contenders
• hopefuls
• aspirants
• prospects
• campaigners
• competitors
• nominees
• seekers
• contestants
• expectants
• entries
• qualifiers
• entrants
• appliers
• favorites
• claimants
• pretenders
• spoilers
• stalking horses
• running mates
• favorite sons
• crown princes
• dark horses

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• incumbents
• officeholders
• awardees
• inductees
• noncandidates
• honorees
• dropouts

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of candidates

Authorities arrested presidential candidates, opposition figures, business leaders and journalists ahead of that vote as the government intensified its criminalization of dissent. — Landon Mion, FOXNews.com, 21 July 2026

Thank you for the analysis and recommendations of the candidates for judges on our ballots. — Sun Sentinel Editorial Board, Sun Sentinel, 20 July 2026

By law, candidates are allowed to register one electoral witness per voting machine, and each is entitled to an acta. — Stephania Taladrid, New Yorker, 20 July 2026

Voters wanted candidates who spoke boldly against the horrors that Israel has unleashed on the Palestinian people, and rewarded those candidates with decisive wins in race after race. — Danny Kaplowitz, New York Daily News, 20 July 2026

With less than four months until voting begins in the midterm general election, Democratic congressional candidates running in the North, West and Northwest suburbs are far better funded than their Republican rivals, records reveal. — Russell Lissau, Chicago Tribune, 20 July 2026

With millions of candidates fighting for a highly limited pool of university seats and government jobs, a single exam can determine their entire economic future. — Omkar Khandekar, NPR, 20 July 2026

Job candidates are using AI to fake their way through interviews, and recruiters are paranoid. — Kristin Stoller, Fortune, 20 July 2026

Back then, the imperial family was bigger and incorporated other collateral branches, known as Oke, which offered a pool of candidates if the main bloodline failed to produce an heir. — Hanako Montgomery, CNN Money, 14 July 2026