CONTENDER Synonyms: 50 Similar and Opposite Words

contender

noun

kən-ˈten-dər

Definition of contender

as in candidate

one who seeks an office, honor, position, or award a strong contender for the mayoral position

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in competitor

one who strives for the same thing as another several contenders competing for the title of the city's best Italian restaurant

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

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Recent Examples of contender The Cobb salad, invented in the 1930s at the legendary Brown Derby restaurant, is a top contender. — Carolynn Carreño, Los Angeles Times, 11 Sep. 2026 After their outstanding campaigns, all three are contenders for this year’s Ballon D’Or. — Tom Burrows, New York Times, 11 Sep. 2026 Maybe playing in the friendly confines of Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium will spur Manning to excellence against a national title contender. — Jace Evans, USA Today, 10 Sep. 2026 Will restaurants like Rootstalk in Breckenridge, Bin 707 Foodbar in Grand Junction and other contenders be considered for stars? — Jonathan Shikes, Denver Post, 10 Sep. 2026 See All Example Sentences for contender

Recent Examples of Synonyms for contender

Noun

If the week 1 drubbing at LSU was a harbinger of doom for Dabo Swinney at Clemson, what does his stock as a coaching candidate look like?

— Stewart Mandel, New York Times, 7 Sep. 2026
The Republican National Committee announced on Saturday the full list of keynote speakers who will stump for Republican candidates at the midterm elections convention next week.

— Carter Schroppe, The Washington Examiner, 6 Sep. 2026

Definition of candidate

Noun

Those advantages can deliver real business value and can be extremely difficult for competitors to overcome.

— George Couris, Forbes.com, 15 Sep. 2026
The ability to evaluate a deal faster and more precisely than your competitors—without cutting corners—creates a compounding advantage.

— Alec Litowitz, Fortune, 15 Sep. 2026

Definition of competitor

Noun

Chuangsri won out of a field of 108 contestants in the pageant, which last year was held in India’s southern Hyderabad city.

— Tabitha Parent, PEOPLE, 5 Sep. 2026
The contestants will have to design a wedding dress that showcases their style, and the winning design will be produced and sold by David’s Bridal.

— Rafaela Bassili, Vulture, 4 Sep. 2026

Definition of contestant

Noun

After rolling over their division rivals, the plan for the flight back was more simple.

— Matt Barrows, New York Times, 11 Sep. 2026
The eighth edition of the Sunset Showdown lasted long after the sun went down — about four hours and 10 minutes later — before host Palisades prevailed 56-50 over crosstown rival Brentwood in four overtimes.

— Steve Galluzzo, Los Angeles Times, 11 Sep. 2026

Definition of rival

Noun

In 1983, the 12m yacht Azzurra — flying the YCCS burgee — represented Italy for the first time in the long history of the America’s Cup, the oldest sports trophy in international sport, finishing third in the challenger series at its first attempt.

— Andrew Rice, New York Times, 15 Sep. 2026
Anta Kids, meanwhile, has become a formidable challenger, having crossed 10 billion yuan in annual gross merchandise volume by the end of 2024 and continuing to record high-single-digit offline growth into the first quarter of this year.

— Li Jun, Footwear News, 14 Sep. 2026