as in contender
one who strives for the same thing as another
the third-party challenger in the presidential election
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Recent Examples of challenger
Absent replacing party sinecurists with able, energetic people, nothing can keep candidates from adopting this agenda on their own—as some younger primary challengers of Democratic incumbents are already starting to do.
—
David Wingrave, Harpers Magazine, 24 Oct. 2025
Jorgensen was elected to the council in 2021 and is seeking a second term against five challengers.
—Angela Palermo, Idaho Statesman, 23 Oct. 2025
Three incumbents and one challenger are running for seats on the Turner Unified School District board of education in Wyandotte County.
—Matthew Kelly, Kansas City Star, 23 Oct. 2025
Season 42 continues on Friday with Tom Devlin returning as champion to face two new challengers.
—Usa Today Staff, USA Today, 23 Oct. 2025
He was reelected to a two-year term as party chair this past December after facing no challenger.
—Lawrence Andrea, jsonline.com, 22 Oct. 2025
Cornyn is facing several challengers in the Republican primary for the seat, including Representative Wesley Hunt and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.
—Jenna Sundel, MSNBC Newsweek, 22 Oct. 2025
That’s because Pelosi already has a challenger — the ultra-wealthy progressive Saikat Chakrabarti, a startup millionaire who served as Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s campaign manager during her first upset win for Congress in 2018.
—Anita Chabria, Mercury News, 22 Oct. 2025
Musk had already started artificial intelligence startup xAI in March 2023, taking some ex-Tesla employees with him, and was developing Grok, a would-be challenger to OpenAI's ChatGPT.
—Lora Kolodny, CNBC, 21 Oct. 2025
David Wingrave, Harpers Magazine, 24 Oct. 2025
Jorgensen was elected to the council in 2021 and is seeking a second term against five challengers.
—Angela Palermo, Idaho Statesman, 23 Oct. 2025
Three incumbents and one challenger are running for seats on the Turner Unified School District board of education in Wyandotte County.
—Matthew Kelly, Kansas City Star, 23 Oct. 2025
Season 42 continues on Friday with Tom Devlin returning as champion to face two new challengers.
—Usa Today Staff, USA Today, 23 Oct. 2025
He was reelected to a two-year term as party chair this past December after facing no challenger.
—Lawrence Andrea, jsonline.com, 22 Oct. 2025
Cornyn is facing several challengers in the Republican primary for the seat, including Representative Wesley Hunt and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.
—Jenna Sundel, MSNBC Newsweek, 22 Oct. 2025
That’s because Pelosi already has a challenger — the ultra-wealthy progressive Saikat Chakrabarti, a startup millionaire who served as Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s campaign manager during her first upset win for Congress in 2018.
—Anita Chabria, Mercury News, 22 Oct. 2025
Musk had already started artificial intelligence startup xAI in March 2023, taking some ex-Tesla employees with him, and was developing Grok, a would-be challenger to OpenAI's ChatGPT.
—Lora Kolodny, CNBC, 21 Oct. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for challenger
Noun
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The new product casts OpenAI as a contender in this generation’s brewing browser wars.—
Diane Brady,
Fortune,
22 Oct. 2025
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Since debuting at the Venice Film Festival, the film has been tapped as a major Oscar contender.—
Brent Lang,
Variety,
22 Oct. 2025
Noun
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The Bachelor season 19 contestant, Jade Roper Tolbert, who runs her own cosmetics company, was also a judge.—
Ingrid Vasquez,
PEOPLE,
25 Oct. 2025
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The final round of voting is now open, so take a look at the contestants and cast your vote for your favorite cat and dog in South Florida.—
Howard Cohen,
Miami Herald,
23 Oct. 2025
Noun
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On the surface, Çiftlik Bank—Turkish for Farm Bank—was little more than a FarmVille rip-off; the functionality for tending to digital crops and livestock was lifted more or less straight from their competitor.—
Moisés Naím,
Literary Hub,
27 Oct. 2025
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Bessent was questioned by Democrats and some Republicans for his support, in the context of Argentina being a competitor to the US in exporting soybeans to China.—
Daniel Flatley,
Fortune,
27 Oct. 2025
Noun
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American has fallen behind large rivals Delta Air Lines and United Airlines in the post-Covid luxury travel boom that has taken Seoul spa vacations and 40th birthday bashes abroad out of the chat and armed millions of consumers with high-end rewards credit cards.—
Leslie Josephs,
CNBC,
26 Oct. 2025
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Analysts say his intervention stopped escalating hostilities, though tensions persist in what remains a fragile, ongoing cold conflict between the longtime regional rivals.—
Amanda Greenwood,
MSNBC Newsweek,
26 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Challenger.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/challenger. Accessed 29 Oct. 2025.
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