CONTESTANT

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does contestant mean? 

• CONTESTANT (noun)
  The noun CONTESTANT has 2 senses:

1. a person who participates in competitions

2. a person who dissents from some established policy

  Familiarity information: CONTESTANT used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• CONTESTANT (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A person who participates in competitions

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Hypernyms ("contestant" is a kind of...):

individual; mortal; person; somebody; someone; soul (a human being)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "contestant"):

athlete; jock (a person trained to compete in sports)

withdrawer (a contestant who withdraws from competition)

victor; winner (the contestant who wins the contest)

starter (a contestant in a team sport who is in the game at the beginning)

challenger; competition; competitor; contender; rival (the contestant you hope to defeat)

qualifier (a contestant who meets certain requirements and so qualifies to take part in the next stage of competition)

pothunter (someone who participates in contests in order to collect trophies)

participant; player (a person who participates in or is skilled at some game)

outsider (a contestant (human or animal) not considered to have a good chance to win)

opponent; opposite; opposition (a contestant that you are matched against)

also-ran; loser (a contestant who loses the contest)

long shot (a contestant that is unlikely to win)

entrant (one who enters a competition)

defaulter (a contestant who forfeits a match)

agonist (someone involved in a contest or battle (as in an agon))

Sense 2

Meaning:

A person who dissents from some established policy

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

contestant; dissenter; dissident; objector; protester

Hypernyms ("contestant" is a kind of...):

individual; mortal; person; somebody; someone; soul (a human being)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "contestant"):

CO; conscientious objector (one who refuses to serve in the armed forces on grounds of conscience)

nonconformist; recusant (someone who refuses to conform to established standards of conduct)

political dissident (a dissenter from political orthodoxy)

NIMBY (someone who objects to siting something in their own neighborhood but does not object to it being sited elsewhere; an acronym for not in my backyard)