finalist

noun

Definition of finalistnext
1
as in champion

Related Words

Relevance

Dissimilar Words
2
as in semifinalist

Related Words

Dissimilar Words

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 finalist Johnson, a finalist for the 2024 Chicago Tribune Silver Football at Iowa, was a third-round pick last year. — Steve Megargee, Chicago Tribune, 30 Aug. 2026 In the course of his career, Rock has received fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation and National Endowment for the Arts, and was named a finalist for the PEN/Faulkner Award and the John Dos Passos Prize. — Zachary Fletcher, USA Today, 27 Aug. 2026 Pulitzer Prize finalist Here There Are Blueberries is coming to Broadway this fall. — Caitlin Huston, HollywoodReporter, 27 Aug. 2026 Here There Are Blueberries, the acclaimed play and Pulitzer finalist by Moisés Kaufman and Amanda Gronich, will open on Broadway this fall for a strictly limited engagement, producers announced today. — Greg Evans, Deadline, 27 Aug. 2026 See All Example Sentences for finalist
Recent Examples of Synonyms for finalist
  1. champion
  2. semifinalist
  3. champ
  4. placer
  5. winner
  6. conqueror
Noun
  • Neither, however, will have completed three Grand Tours in four months like the people’s champion, Sepp Kuss.
    — Chris Marshall-Bell, New York Times, 11 Sep. 2026
  • Seattle Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold’s 2026 season debut lasted just one drive before a hip injury knocked out the Super Bowl champion.
    — Andrew Greif, NBC news, 10 Sep. 2026
Definition of champion
Noun
  • One year later, the Canadian is out before the second week in Flushing Meadows, after losing to his fellow former semifinalist here.
    — Lukas Weese, New York Times, 3 Sep. 2026
  • Navarro was leading going into the remainder of the match, but Boisson — a 2025 French Open semifinalist — capitalized on the delay to win the second set.
    — Anna Lazarus Caplan, PEOPLE, 31 Aug. 2026
Definition of semifinalist
Noun
  • Allen has a new top target in DJ Moore, and 2025 rushing champ James Cook is here to compress defenses once again.
    — Steven Louis Goldstein, New York Times, 11 Sep. 2026
  • Michael Middlehurst-Schwartz makes his playoff picks and predicts the Super Bowl 61 champ.
    — Jace Evans, USA Today, 10 Sep. 2026
Definition of champ
Noun
  • Most of the early mining there consisted of placer mining — extracting minerals from sand and gravel in river beds — and mining declined during the Civil War.
    — John Meyer, Denver Post, 26 July 2026
  • Its breakout star is Parker Schnabel, a thirty-one-year-old who runs a placer mine in the Yukon that brought in fifty-one million dollars last year.
    — Jennifer Wilson, New Yorker, 4 May 2026
Definition of placer
Noun
  • Inter Double winners in Italy, Inter have lost Denzel Dumfries but supplemented their squad with a bunch of Englishmen, namely the ‘Three Lions’ of John Stones, Djed Spence and Curtis Jones.
    — Nick Miller, New York Times, 7 Sep. 2026
  • Friday’s three big money Florida Lottery draw games — Mega Millions, Fantasy 5, Jackpot Triple Play — produced two six-figure jackpot winners.
    — David J. Neal, Miami Herald, 6 Sep. 2026
Definition of winner
Noun
  • In life, and in the novel, the German conquerors in their splendid uniforms make debonair remarks, as the French cultural and social figures who frequent the bar—collaborators—are thrilled to remain close to power.
    — David Denby, New Yorker, 31 Aug. 2026
  • The plot of the original YouTube series began to follow the Skibidi Toilets, a conqueror race armed with futuristic weaponry and an intention to colonize the galaxy.
    — Kyle MacNeill, Rolling Stone, 6 Aug. 2026
Definition of conqueror

Browse Nearby Words

finales
finalist
finalists
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Finalist.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/finalist. Accessed 14 Sep. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of empirical

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

Why do we use apostrophes to show possession?

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Back to School Vocabulary

Words from the 'Odyssey'

Ye Olde Nincompoop: Old-Fashioned Words for 'Stupid'

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of
See More

Popular

See More

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Back to School Vocabulary
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
funny guinea pig in glasses reading a book
Challenging Words You Should Know Vol 2 Words to the wise
See All