Other forms: contenders
A contender is somebody with a real chance of winning. A serious contender, the leading contender, rule out a contender.
The word grants credibility, which is why being called a contender matters before any result. Its most famous outing is the line from On the Waterfront about a fighter who could have been a contender.
1nouncontenderSomebody with a real chance of winning.
“After winning her first five matches, she is now a serious contender for the title.”
contender is a competitor.
Proto-Indo-European
*tend-
Latin
contendere — to stretch out, extend, strive after, contend
Old French
contendre
Middle English
contenden
English
contend
English, today
contender
Built from
From contend + -er. contend comes from Middle English contenden, borrowed from Old French contendre, from Latin contendere (“to stretch out, extend, strive after, contend”), from com- (“together”) + tendere (“to stretch”); see tend, and compare attend, extend, intend, subtend.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA