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.

It also comes a week before a crucial by-election in which Labour candidate Andy Burnham is seeking a return to Westminster to enable him to challenge Sir Keir for the premiership.

From BBC • Jun. 11, 2026

The most obvious candidate is the VanEck Semiconductor Exchange-Traded Fund, home to data center chip makers seeing explosive growth in their AI offerings.

From Barron's • Jun. 11, 2026

Given all the doubts around Adobe, it’s perhaps surprising that the company will likely go with an internal candidate to replace outgoing CEO Shantanu Narayen.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 11, 2026

He insisted he was a nonpartisan candidate running on local issues.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 11, 2026

I was a wife and not a candidate, obviously, so perhaps the expectation was for me to provide more lightness, more fluff.

From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama

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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