CONTENDERS Synonyms: 44 Similar and Opposite Words

contenders

noun

plural of contender

as in candidates

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 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

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

noncompetitors

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 contenders And the way the French election works is that there’s a first round for the Presidential contenders and then the two front-runners go forward. — Isaac Chotiner, New Yorker, 23 Oct. 2026 Among the contenders was the 38-year-old New Zealander then best known for the miniseries Reilly, Ace of Spies and Omen III — and still seven years away from Jurassic Park. — Benjamin Svetkey, HollywoodReporter, 22 Oct. 2026 Of course, the Glee cast is going to have their work cut out for them, given more than a decade has transpired since the original series went off the air in 2015 and a lot more contenders have emerged in the years after. — Katie Atkinson, Billboard, 21 Oct. 2026 Every season, true fashion lovers obsess over the new assortment of Bottega bags on the runway—and for spring, there were plenty of hot contenders. — Joan Kennedy, Vogue, 20 Oct. 2026 With just a week left for the 2026 Ballon d'Or award ceremony, top contenders Lamine Yamal (FCB), Rodri (FCB), and Ousmane Dembélé (PSG) will be itching to deliver statement performances and stake their claim. — Jibin Joseph, PC Magazine, 20 Oct. 2026 Every team that gets votes from at least three members is included in the overall pool of contenders eligible to be ranked. — Jordan McPherson, Miami Herald, 20 Oct. 2026 This leaves a shortlist of three former Grammy Award winners and two artists who have yet to add a gramophone to their hardware collection as our major contenders for Best Rap Album at the 69th Annual Grammy Awards. — Preezy Brown, Rolling Stone, 20 Oct. 2026 Filmmakers behind those distinguished productions assembled at the Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival in Arkansas last week for HSDFF’s inaugural roundtable of Oscar contenders, an event held in partnership with Deadline. — Matthew Carey, Deadline, 20 Oct. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for contenders

Noun

That’s thanks to two Democratic incumbents running more strongly than expected in more conservative districts, but also to candidates like Garcia, who’s running neck-and-neck against his GOP rival.

— Nicholas Wu, semafor.com, 27 Oct. 2026
Their Students' List of candidates includes various experts in their fields with little or no experience in politics or state jobs.

— JOVANA GEC, Arkansas Online, 27 Oct. 2026

Definition of candidates

Noun

Dell Technologies , Hewlett Packard Enterprise — Super Micro's server competitors Dell and HPE were also higher on the news of the company's guidance update.

— Davis Giangiulio, CNBC, 21 Oct. 2026
If the system relies on 300-plus schools to follow suggestions their competitors do not, it’s broken.

— Sam McDowell, Kansas City Star, 21 Oct. 2026

Definition of competitors

Noun

There’s something so unsettling about a game show where the contestants’ well-being is not considered, and The Tonight Show leaned into that uncanniness to great effect.

— Bethy Squires, Vulture, 23 Oct. 2026
Instead of contestants going solo over a balance beam between platforms, three players had to work together to get a ball balanced on a disc over the beam.

— Dalton Ross, Entertainment Weekly, 22 Oct. 2026

Definition of contestants

Noun

Sarah Pinto, head of Robinhood Ventures, has no issue with backing rivals.

— Morgan Chittum, Fortune, 23 Oct. 2026
The possibilities ‘are endless’ Candidates with smaller campaign budgets rely on artificial intelligence to compete with their rivals, Ridout suggested.

— Anagilmara Vílchez, NBC news, 23 Oct. 2026

Definition of rivals

Noun

With no party likely to win a majority, Netanyahu’s Likud and its far-right, ultra-Orthodox allies face centrist and left-wing challengers competing to assemble a governing coalition.

— Melanie Lidman, Los Angeles Times, 19 Oct. 2026
Newton, Valdosta and Heard County defended their high rankings with victories over Top 10 challengers last week.

— Todd Holcomb, AJC.com, 18 Oct. 2026

Definition of challengers

Browse Nearby Words

contender

contenders

contending

See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

Style

“Contenders.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/contenders. Accessed 29 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation

Synonyms of contenders

noun

Example Sentences

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

shindig

Popular in Grammar & Usage

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

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

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

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

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

Popular in Wordplay

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World

Why do we 'bury the lede?'

'Za' and 9 Other Words to Help You Win at SCRABBLE

Popular

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Games & Quizzes