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

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of candidates Wasserman Schultz was sharply criticized by Black community leaders and the other four candidates, who are all African American, for running in this district. — Caroline Linton, CBS News, 18 Aug. 2026 Starting corners who have been speculated as potential trade candidates this summer around the NFL include Kansas City’s Kristian Fulton and Denver’s Riley Moss. — Jon MacHota, New York Times, 18 Aug. 2026 Patriarchal norms are increasingly challenged by women empowered by progressive legislation that requires half of political parties’ candidates to be women and, at least on paper, guarantees women’s access to land ownership. — ABC News, 18 Aug. 2026 Independent groups spent millions more backing unsuccessful Republican candidates for governor Chris Carr and Brad Raffensperger, with interests ranging from Planned Parenthood to Georgia Realtors rounding out the top spenders. — David Wickert, AJC.com, 18 Aug. 2026 Hiring is one of the targets, and the FBI has issued specific warnings about deepfake candidates in remote interviews. — Kara Dennison, Forbes.com, 17 Aug. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for candidates
  1. applicants
  2. contenders
  3. hopefuls
Noun
  • As of July 29th, more than 120,000 eligible applicants are awaiting additional funding.
    — Lacey Beasley, CBS News, 11 Aug. 2026
  • Granted, the math can be contextually questioned, since money-losing programs still tend to attract applicants, improve admissions yield, boost fundraising efforts with alumni and generate media attention.
    — Michael McCann, Sportico.com, 11 Aug. 2026
Definition of applicants
Noun
  • The six join previously announced Golden Shell contenders from Roberto Bueso, Nicole Garcia, Mikel Gurrea, Maha Harada, Pablo Larraín, Mike Leigh, Hans Petter Moland, Benjamín Naishtat, Javier Ruiz Caldera and Yeşim Ustaoğlu.
    — Emiliano de Pablos, Variety, 14 Aug. 2026
  • The Cubs have stabilized after a roller-coaster ride the first three months and are now serious World Series contenders with the Los Angeles Dodgers proving fallible.
    — Paul Sullivan, Chicago Tribune, 14 Aug. 2026
Definition of contenders
Noun
  • Quigley’s one of the hopefuls in the so-far nine-candidate primary.
    — Charles Selle, Chicago Tribune, 12 Aug. 2026
  • Summer, though, can be a foe of glass hair hopefuls—the combination of sun, salt, chlorine, and humidity all contribute to hair becoming drier and frizzier, a concoction for dull, lackluster lengths.
    — Selvaggia Germani, Vogue, 10 Aug. 2026
Definition of hopefuls

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candidate
candidates
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Cite this Entry

“Candidates.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/candidates. Accessed 18 Aug. 2026.

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Nglish: Translation of candidates for Spanish Speakers

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