also-ran

UK: /ˈɔːlsəʊræn/ US: (ôl′sō ran′)

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026

ˈal•so-ˌran,  n. [countable]

1. Sport a contestant who fails to win a competition.
2. Informal Terms one who always has little or no success;
   a failure.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026

al•so-ran  (ôl′sō ran′), n. 

1. [Sports.]
   • Sport (in a race) a contestant who fails to win or to place among the first three finishers.
   • Sport an athlete or team whose performance in competition is rarely, if ever, a winning or near-winning one.
2. Informal Terms a person who loses a contest, election, or other competition.
3. Informal Terms a 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 noun

1. a contestant, horse, etc, failing to finish among the first three in a race
2. an unsuccessful person; loser or nonentity