Synonyms of contenders

contenders

noun

plural of contender

1

as in candidates

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

a strong contender for the mayoral position

Synonyms & Similar Words

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

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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

2

as in competitors

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

• competitors
• contestants
• rivals
• challengers
• finalists
• competitions
• players
• corrivals
• entrants
• entries
• opponents
• semifinalists
• archrivals
• adversaries
• also-rans
• antagonists

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• noncompetitors

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of contenders

See a running list of all of the international feature race contenders here. — Ellise Shafer, Variety, 18 Sep. 2026

The contenders consist of nine novels and one nonfiction book. — Gina Kalsi, PEOPLE, 18 Sep. 2026

As Oscar contenders are revealed this fall, one of the increasingly important categories is Best International Feature, which went through a recent change. — Marcus Jones, IndieWire, 18 Sep. 2026

The conclusion of Dancing With the Stars season 35’s two-night premiere pitted the celebrity cast’s eight female contenders against each other in a battle of grooves. — Ryan Coleman, Entertainment Weekly, 17 Sep. 2026

Related Stories For the first time, HSDFF will convene a Documentary Roundtable of leading contenders for the Academy Awards. — Matthew Carey, Deadline, 17 Sep. 2026

Other lawmakers from early-primary states are fielding calls from 2028 contenders looking to appear with them. — Nicholas Wu, semafor.com, 16 Sep. 2026

Jacob deGrom struck out eight in five innings, Corey Seager had a two-run single and the Texas Rangers beat the Boston Red Sox 4-2 on Tuesday night in a series opener between playoff contenders. — CBS News, 16 Sep. 2026

One of the original films selected as 20 Golden Lion contenders — May el-Toukhy’s Woman Unknown — is directed by a woman, down from six competition titles last year. — Chris Gardner, HollywoodReporter, 5 Sep. 2026