candidate

[kan-di-deyt, -dit, kan-di-deyt] / ˈkæn dɪˌdeɪt, -dɪt, ˈkæn dɪˌdeɪt /

NOUN

person desiring political office, job

Synonyms

STRONGEST

applicant aspirant bidder competitor contender contestant nominee successor

STRONG

claimant entrant hopeful petitioner possibility pothunter runner seeker stumper suitor write-in

WEAK

dark horse favorite son handshaker job-hunter office seeker possible choice solicitant whistle-stopper

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Jade Marsden, a former Conservative candidate for mayor of the Liverpool City Region, believes the Everyman is wrong to now put on the stage version.

From BBC • May 8, 2026

What others saw in her she never saw in herself, understanding that she was an unlikely candidate for Hollywood stardom.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 8, 2026

Who could’ve known SGA would become a perennial MVP candidate?

From Los Angeles Times • May 8, 2026

Hantavirus is a “low-incidence, structurally small market,” Evercore said, while a “mRNA hantavirus candidate remains very early stage.”

From Barron's • May 7, 2026

For a number of reasons, Gene Park was a likely candidate, and so he decided to examine these loans that AIG FP was insuring a bit more closely.

From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis

Vocabulary lists containing candidate

Election Lingo

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Electoral Elocution: The Verbiage of Voting

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Commonly Misspelled Words, List 2

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