also-ran

Rand Paul had the benefit of observing both what made his father likable and popular, and what made him an also-ran.

Ten years ago, Apple began its transformation from an also-ran PC maker to a world-beating tech titan.

For a time he wrote criticism for Mawaqif, a publication founded by the Syrian poet (and perennial Nobel also-ran) Adonis.

The FTC has subpoenaed Google in an antitrust case—the kind of probe that turned Microsoft from king of tech to an also-ran.

He had made a joke about his movie's status as also-ran to The Hurt Locker.