contender

English

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contender

Wikipedia

Etymology

From contend +‎ -er.

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA^(key): /kənˈtɛn.dɚ/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Audio (UK):

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• Rhymes: -ɛndə(ɹ)
• Hyphenation: con‧ten‧der

Noun

contender (plural contenders)

1. Someone who competes with one or more other people.
2. Someone who has a viable chance of winning a competition.
   • 2016 January 1, David Hytner, The Guardian‎:

     In April 2014, towards the end of Özil’s first season at Arsenal – which had been marked by highs and lows – Wenger predicted the German would be a contender for the player of the year awards in 2014‑15.

Derived terms

• contendership
• noncontender

Translations

someone who competes — see also rival

Albanian: garues (sq) m, garuese (sq) f Armenian: մրցակից (hy) (mrcʻakicʻ), հավակնորդ (hy) (havaknord) Dutch: mededinger (nl) French: concurrent (fr) m, rival (fr) m Galician: competidor (gl), rival (gl) Georgian: მეტოქე (ka) (meṭoke) German: Gegner (de) m, Konkurrent (de) m, Rivale (de) m, Mitbewerber (de) m Greek: αγωνιζόμενος (el) m (agonizómenos), αντίπαλος (el) m or f (antípalos) Macedonian: про́тивник (mk) m (prótivnik), со́перник (mk) m (sópernik) Polish: zawodnik (pl) m, zawodniczka (pl) f Portuguese: competidor (pt) m Russian: сопе́рник (ru) m (sopérnik), сопе́рница (ru) f (sopérnica), претенде́нт (ru) m (pretendént), претенде́нтка (ru) f (pretendéntka) Spanish: contendiente (es) m or f, contendedor (es) m

See also

• contestant

Anagrams

• retconned

Portuguese

Etymology

From Latin contendere.

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /kõ.tẽˈde(ʁ)/ [kõ.tẽˈde(h)]

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /kõ.tẽˈde(ʁ)/ [kõ.tẽˈde(h)]
  • (São Paulo) IPA^(key): /kõ.tẽˈde(ɾ)/
  • (Rio de Janeiro) IPA^(key): /kõ.tẽˈde(ʁ)/ [kõ.tẽˈde(χ)]
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /kõ.tẽˈde(ɻ)/

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /kõ.tẽˈdeɾ/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /kõ.tẽˈdeɾ/
  • (Southern Portugal) IPA^(key): /kõ.tẽˈde.ɾi/

• Hyphenation: con‧ten‧der

Verb

contender (first-person singular present contendo, first-person singular preterite contendi, past participle contendido)

1. (intransitive) to contend (to strive in opposition)

Conjugation

    Conjugation of contender (See Appendix:Portuguese verbs)

	Singular			Plural
	First-person (eu)	Second-person (tu)	Third-person (ele / ela / você)	First-person (nós)	Second-person (vós)	Third-person (eles / elas / vocês)
Infinitive
Impersonal	contender
Personal	contender	contenderes	contender	contendermos	contenderdes	contenderem
Gerund
	contendendo
Past participle
Masculine	contendido			contendidos
Feminine	contendida			contendidas
Indicative
Present	contendo	contendes	contende	contendemos	contendeis	contendem
Imperfect	contendia	contendias	contendia	contendíamos	contendíeis	contendiam
Preterite	contendi	contendeste	contendeu	contendemos	contendestes	contenderam
Pluperfect	contendera	contenderas	contendera	contendêramos	contendêreis	contenderam
Future	contenderei	contenderás	contenderá	contenderemos	contendereis	contenderão
Conditional	contenderia	contenderias	contenderia	contenderíamos	contenderíeis	contenderiam
Subjunctive
Present	contenda	contendas	contenda	contendamos	contendais	contendam
Imperfect	contendesse	contendesses	contendesse	contendêssemos	contendêsseis	contendessem
Future	contender	contenderes	contender	contendermos	contenderdes	contenderem
Imperative
Affirmative		contende	contenda	contendamos	contendei	contendam
Negative (não)		não contendas	não contenda	não contendamos	não contendais	não contendam

Related terms

• contenção
• contendente
• contendor

Further reading

• “contender”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2025
• “contender”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2025

Spanish

Etymology

Inherited from Latin contendere.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kontenˈdeɾ/ [kõn̪.t̪ẽn̪ˈd̪eɾ]
• Rhymes: -eɾ
• Syllabification: con‧ten‧der

Verb

contender (first-person singular present contiendo, first-person singular preterite contendí, past participle contendido)

1. to contend
2. to contest

Conjugation

    Conjugation of contender (e-ie alternation) (See Appendix:Spanish verbs)

infinitive			contender
gerund			contendiendo
past participle				masculine		feminine
		singular		contendido		contendida
		plural		contendidos		contendidas
		singular			plural
		1st person	2nd person	3rd person	1st person	2nd person	3rd person
indicative		yo	tú vos	él/ella/ello usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ellos/ellas ustedes
	present	contiendo	contiendestú contendésvos	contiende	contendemos	contendéis	contienden
	imperfect	contendía	contendías	contendía	contendíamos	contendíais	contendían
	preterite	contendí	contendiste	contendió	contendimos	contendisteis	contendieron
	future	contenderé	contenderás	contenderá	contenderemos	contenderéis	contenderán
	conditional	contendería	contenderías	contendería	contenderíamos	contenderíais	contenderían
subjunctive		yo	tú vos	él/ella/ello usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ellos/ellas ustedes
	present	contienda	contiendastú contendásvos2	contienda	contendamos	contendáis	contiendan
	imperfect (ra)	contendiera	contendieras	contendiera	contendiéramos	contendierais	contendieran
	imperfect (se)	contendiese	contendieses	contendiese	contendiésemos	contendieseis	contendiesen
	future1	contendiere	contendieres	contendiere	contendiéremos	contendiereis	contendieren
imperative		—	tú vos	usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ustedes
	affirmative		contiendetú contendévos	contienda	contendamos	contended	contiendan
	negative		no contiendas	no contienda	no contendamos	no contendáis	no contiendan

¹Rare; now chiefly used in legal language.
²Argentine and Uruguayan voseo prefers the tuteo-form for the present subjunctive.

Related terms

• contención
• contendiente
• contendor

Further reading

• “contender”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025