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

There were 4,183 ballots cast in the Kings/Ducks voting, and four candidates received at least 75% of the vote. — Assistant Sports Editor, Los Angeles Times, 7 July 2026

His youngest daughter is now among the six candidates in the special election that will decide who finishes his term. — Tia Mitchell, AJC.com, 6 July 2026

DeSantis also took shots at the Republican Party of Florida’s decision to set a high bar for candidates to qualify for a GOP gubernatorial primary debate — criteria that would only allow Donalds on the stage at the party’s annual summit. — Romy Ellenbogen Herald, Miami Herald, 6 July 2026

While these victories may not matter in deep-blue districts, Liasson says some Democrats are worried that swing states and districts could be nominating candidates who are too far left to win. — Brittney Melton, NPR, 6 July 2026

Al Gore and Joseph Lieberman, senator from Connecticut, as the Democratic candidates for president and vice president of the United States. — Encyclopedia Britannica, 6 July 2026

The candidates who are winning jobs right now aren’t the ones who fear AI. — Phil Blair, San Diego Union-Tribune, 6 July 2026

Carr’s equal time threats have also influenced which candidates appear on late night talk shows on CBS, NBC, and ABC. — Max Tani, semafor.com, 6 July 2026

Rather than replacing traditional physics calculations, the machine learning system acts as a filter, allowing researchers to focus computational resources on the most promising candidates. — Neetika Walter, Interesting Engineering, 30 June 2026