as in competitors
one who strives for the same thing as another
the third-party challenger in the presidential election
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Recent Examples of challengers
Josh Harder, a four-time congressman from Turlock, faces three Republican challengers in the primary.
—
William Melhado, Sacbee.com, 15 Feb. 2026
The first to turn in a petition was Councilmember Traci Park, who is facing two challengers while running for reelection in a coastal district.
—Rebecca Ellis, Los Angeles Times, 14 Feb. 2026
The unheralded freshman has risen to the top of the sport, among the strongest challengers to Cameron Boozer’s National Player of the Year campaign, thanks to his remarkable offensive prowess.
—Jim Root, New York Times, 14 Feb. 2026
Rival brands have tried to dethrone Tesla, but few challengers are coming close its American market dominance.
—Charles Singh, USA Today, 13 Feb. 2026
The second are investment-grade software firms like Salesforce and Adobe that have robust balance sheets and can implement AI to fend off challengers.
—Hugh Son, CNBC, 13 Feb. 2026
Unlike Bass’ current and previous challengers who came from outside City Hall, Raman enters the race as a sitting council member with a governing record and deep familiarity with how city government works.
—Teresa Liu, Daily News, 11 Feb. 2026
From familiar faces to unexpected challengers, here’s who’s running for Senate and Congress.
—Kurtcia Collazo, IndyStar, 9 Feb. 2026
In addition to legal challenges, Cherfilus-McCormick faces political challengers.
—Anthony Man, Sun Sentinel, 7 Feb. 2026
William Melhado, Sacbee.com, 15 Feb. 2026
The first to turn in a petition was Councilmember Traci Park, who is facing two challengers while running for reelection in a coastal district.
—Rebecca Ellis, Los Angeles Times, 14 Feb. 2026
The unheralded freshman has risen to the top of the sport, among the strongest challengers to Cameron Boozer’s National Player of the Year campaign, thanks to his remarkable offensive prowess.
—Jim Root, New York Times, 14 Feb. 2026
Rival brands have tried to dethrone Tesla, but few challengers are coming close its American market dominance.
—Charles Singh, USA Today, 13 Feb. 2026
The second are investment-grade software firms like Salesforce and Adobe that have robust balance sheets and can implement AI to fend off challengers.
—Hugh Son, CNBC, 13 Feb. 2026
Unlike Bass’ current and previous challengers who came from outside City Hall, Raman enters the race as a sitting council member with a governing record and deep familiarity with how city government works.
—Teresa Liu, Daily News, 11 Feb. 2026
From familiar faces to unexpected challengers, here’s who’s running for Senate and Congress.
—Kurtcia Collazo, IndyStar, 9 Feb. 2026
In addition to legal challenges, Cherfilus-McCormick faces political challengers.
—Anthony Man, Sun Sentinel, 7 Feb. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for challengers
Noun
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Extreme discounts relative to competitors are another warning sign, as no legitimate dealer is consistently selling silver below market price — not without a catch, anyway.—
Angelica Leicht,
CBS News,
17 Feb. 2026
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Elsewhere on Monday —As the Alpine skiing reaches its penultimate event, the weather made the men’s slalom course very difficult with only 44 of 96 competitors earning a score.—
John Cherwa,
Los Angeles Times,
17 Feb. 2026
Noun
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In an era of annual roster churn, predicting in the offseason which teams will go on to be true contenders is particularly difficult.—
Molly Geary,
Sportico.com,
20 Feb. 2026
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After gold medal favorite Finley Melville Ives crashed out of contention, the top American contenders, rather sensibly, backed off in their second runs in men's freeski halfpipe qualifying.—
Andrew Greif,
NBC news,
20 Feb. 2026
Noun
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As seasons went on, the show escalated the stakes for the contestants.—
Taylor Ardrey,
USA Today,
15 Feb. 2026
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The upcoming milestone season will feature contestants from previous seasons going back to the show's first season, which aired almost 26 years ago, primarily focusing on seasons 45 through 49.—
Lori A Bashian,
FOXNews.com,
14 Feb. 2026
Noun
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India is one of OpenAI’s top markets for ChatGPT and alongside rivals like Perplexity are offering their products for free in a race to gain users and potentially lucrative data for further training.—
Arjun Kharpal,
CNBC,
15 Feb. 2026
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The North American rivals cannot meet until the gold medal game.—
Stephen Whyno,
Twin Cities,
15 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Challengers.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/challengers. Accessed 21 Feb. 2026.
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