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⇱ also-ran - WordReference.com Dictionary of English

also-ran

UK:**UK and possibly other pronunciationsUK and possibly other pronunciations/ˈɔːlsəʊræn/US:USA pronunciation: respellingUSA pronunciation: respelling(ôl′sō ran′)


WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026
ˈal•so-ˌran,  n. [countable]
  1. Sporta contestant who fails to win a competition.
  2. Informal Termsone who always has little or no success;
    a failure.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026
al•so-ran  (ôl′sō ran′),USA pronunciation n. 
  1. [Sports.]
    • Sport(in a race) a contestant who fails to win or to place among the first three finishers.
    • Sportan athlete or team whose performance in competition is rarely, if ever, a winning or near-winning one.
  2. Informal Termsa person who loses a contest, election, or other competition.
  3. Informal Termsa person who attains little or no success:For every great artist there are a thousand also-rans.
  • 1895–1900

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
also-ran n
  1. a contestant, horse, etc, failing to finish among the first three in a race
  2. an unsuccessful person; loser or nonentity
'also-ran' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
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