Finalist

noun

noun ·3 syllables ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    Somebody or something that appears in the final stage of a competition.

    "If the disqualifications leave a vacancy for the full complement of finalists, swim-offs shall be continued among the disqualified swimmers until a full complement of finalists is assured."

  2. 2
    a contestant who reaches the final stages of a competition wordnet
  3. 3
    A university student in their final year of study; a senior.
  4. 4
    A university student during the period of sitting their final examinations (whether or not in their final year of study).

Example

More examples

"I imagine Tom will be a finalist."

Etymology

From final + -ist.

Related phrases

quarter-finalistsemi-finalist

More for "finalist"

SynonymsSentencesPronunciationTranslate

Next best steps

Find stronger synonymsSee usage examplesCheck pronunciationBrowse writing guides

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.