CONTEST Synonyms: 157 Similar and Opposite Words

contest 1 of 2

noun

ˈkän-ˌtest

Definition of contest

as in competition

an earnest effort for superiority or victory over another the eternal contest between the forces of good and the forces of evil

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in tournament

a competitive encounter between individuals or groups carried on for amusement, exercise, or in pursuit of a prize a contest for the gold medal in diving

Synonyms & Similar Words

as in skirmish

a physical dispute between opposing individuals or groups what mighty contests have been waged on trivial matters

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

truce

contest

2 of 2

verb

kən-ˈtest

as in to challenge

to demand proof of the truth or rightness of vowed to contest the claim in court

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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 contest

Noun

Since last year, including the Wild Card Round, the Packers are just 1-7 in their last eight contests. — Scott Thompson Outkick, FOXNews.com, 25 Sep. 2026 Kelce and the Chiefs dominated the early-season contest, defeating the visiting Chicago Bears, 41-10. — Skyler Caruso, PEOPLE, 24 Sep. 2026

Verb

Paxton is seen as a prominent fixture in the MAGA movement, using his position as attorney general to contest Obama-era clean energy and healthcare acts and launching lawsuits against the Biden administration for its immigration policy. — Christopher Buchanan, Los Angeles Times, 21 Sep. 2026 The election stayed unresolved for five weeks while Florida’s votes were counted, contested in court and counted again. — Andrew Latham, The Conversation, 21 Sep. 2026 See All Example Sentences for contest

Recent Examples of Synonyms for contest

Noun

Bear 620 was raised with her cousin, Bear #690 (Bean), who won the Fat Bear Week Junior competition in 2022.

— Popular Science Team, Popular Science, 25 Sep. 2026
Washington should use commercial investment and competition to expand viable launch sites and avoid dependence on any one provider or location.

— Mark Montgomery, The Orlando Sentinel, 25 Sep. 2026

Definition of competition

Noun

Ties between the two countries, which had deteriorated sharply following a deadly border skirmish in 2020, have been thawing for more than a year.

— Priyanka Salve, CNBC, 17 Sep. 2026
The duo walks away from this skirmish, though not unscathed, as Samjad quickly and economically sets up a blistering saga of stylish reprisals with no holds barred.

— Siddhant Adlakha, IndieWire, 17 Sep. 2026

Definition of skirmish

Verb

After the Supreme Court ruling outlawing affirmative action, civil rights groups filed a federal complaint challenging Harvard’s legacy and donor preferences.

— Jayson Weingarten, Fortune, 26 Sep. 2026
In forensic parlance, a diagnosis of exclusion is one reached by ruling out other plausible causes; drowning can be challenging to prove, because often there’s no telltale sign that one occurred.

— Cristian Farias, New Yorker, 26 Sep. 2026

Definition of challenge

Noun

These sensual glimmers are no match for the antagonistic sociality of straight male relationships, which, in this novel, quickly convert sympathy or desire into rivalry and aggression.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 24 Sep. 2026
This season and the last marked the first time in the 112-game series that the rivalry game took place in Oxford in back-to-back years.

— Mark Harris OutKick, FOXNews.com, 24 Sep. 2026

Definition of rivalry

Noun

Meta also says the platform will support more than 100 immersive live sports events each year through partners including ESPN and TNT Sports.

— Kaif Shaikh, Interesting Engineering, 24 Sep. 2026
The Hugging Face hack may have prompted an internal review, during which OpenAI also discovered the Australian website breach, although the company did not explicitly link the two events in its statement.

— Emily Forlini, Fortune, 24 Sep. 2026

Definition of event

Verb

The family initially claimed Ellis acted in self-defense after Matthew entered the home with a knife, but investigators soon questioned that account.

— Samantha Stutsman, PEOPLE, 26 Sep. 2026
The article went viral, garnering pushback from the LGBT community over how it was covered and more attention to the LGBT bar itself from conservative pundits, who questioned why the bar still had a mask mandate.

— Molly Parks, The Washington Examiner, 25 Sep. 2026