challenger
noun
Simple meaning
A person who competes against a champion in a game.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
chaluhnjerSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈtʃæləndʒɚ
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
One who challenges; especially, one who plays against the current champion of a game or contest in hopes of winning and becoming the new champion.
A space shuttle, named after HMS Challenger (1858), destroyed on January 28, 1986 with loss of its seven-member crew.
rail transport
A steam locomotive of the 4-6-6-4 wheel arrangement.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B2 · Upper Intermediate (estimated)
- Frequency
- Moderately Common
- Typical Use
- Neutral / general English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: One who challenges; especially, one who plays against the current champion of a game or contest in hopes of winning and becoming the new champion.
Used this way, challenger is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
Share your sentence
Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Space
Other combinations
Tap the highlighted word to open its own entry.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Related Words
Connected to the same idea, not synonyms.
- singlesnoun
- tournamentnoun
- tennisnoun
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: one who challenges
Ask Vocabaura
Understand the word your way.
What Does It Mean Here?
Words can change meaning depending on context.
Use it yourself
Knowing “challenger” starts when you use it. Pick a next step, all free.
Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.