The legendary footballer Diego Armando Maradona is from Argentina.
Source: tatoeba (587458)
Footballer
/ˈfʊtbɔːləɹ/
Synonyms for "footballer" (29 found)
Ranked by relevance and common usage.
Closest matches (6)
Noun(3 words)
football playersoccer playerassociation footballer
Strong matches (9)
Related words (14)
Choosing the right synonym
- Closest matches in this entry: football player, soccer player, archer, association footballer, athlete.
- Sentence evidence is available for footballer, so synonym choice can be checked against real usage rather than a flat word list.
- Ranking signals come from wiktionary, wordnet, opengloss, derived_reverse, and related lexical sources.
Synonym selection checklist
- Match the part of speech before comparing meanings.
- Check whether the synonym changes intensity, formality, or emotional tone.
- Read the replacement inside the full sentence, not just beside "footballer".
- Prefer the clearest word over the most unusual word when writing for speed or comprehension.
When not to replace "footballer"
Keep "footballer" when the sentence already sounds natural, when a synonym would add unintended emphasis, or when readers need the most familiar wording. A synonym should clarify or sharpen the message, not simply make the sentence look more varied.
If two options seem close, choose the one that best matches the audience and purpose of the sentence.
Replacement workflow
1. Preserve meaning
Choose a synonym only if it keeps the core idea of "footballer" intact in the sentence you are editing.
2. Tune tone
Check whether the replacement sounds more formal, casual, emotional, technical, or forceful than the original word.
3. Re-read context
Read the full sentence after the swap. Keep the synonym only when the sentence becomes clearer or more precise.
Review note: Synonym lists are ranked with lexical data and reviewed for practical writing value. Use the comparison notes, sentence evidence, and source labels together; a high-ranking synonym can still be wrong when the audience, register, or grammar changes.
Final fit check
After choosing a replacement for "footballer", read the sentence once for meaning and once for rhythm. The best synonym should feel natural in the full sentence, not only accurate in a word list.
If the synonym makes the sentence slower, vaguer, or more dramatic than intended, keep "footballer" or choose a simpler alternative from the closest-match group.
Related word relations
OpenGloss and ConceptNet supply richer edges like generalizations, collocations, and derivations.
More general
4 entriesMore specific
3 entriesCollocations
6 entriesclub footballerfootballer contractfootballer injuryinternational footballerprofessional footballeryoung footballer
Inflections
1 entriesTranslations
102 translations across 59 languages.
Aragonese
1 entries- futbolista noun (one who plays football)
Armenian
1 entries- ֆուտբոլիստ noun (one who plays football)
Asturian
1 entries- futbolista noun (one who plays football)
Azerbaijani
1 entries- futbolçu noun (one who plays football)
Bashkir
1 entries- футболсы noun (one who plays football)
Basque
1 entries- futbolari noun (one who plays football)
Belarusian
2 entries- футбалі́ст noun (one who plays football)
- футбалі́стка noun (one who plays football)
Bulgarian
2 entries- футболи́ст noun (one who plays football)
- футболи́стка noun (one who plays football)
Burmese
1 entries- ဘောလုံးသမား noun (one who plays football)
Carpathian Rusyn
2 entries- фотбалі́ста noun (one who plays football)
- фотбалі́стка noun (one who plays football)
Catalan
1 entries- futbolista noun (one who plays football)
Chinese Mandarin
3 entries- 足球員 /足球员 noun (one who plays football)
- 足球運動員 /足球运动员 noun (one who plays football)
- 足球選手 /足球选手 noun (one who plays football)
Czech
2 entries- fotbalista noun (one who plays football)
- fotbalistka noun (one who plays football)
Danish
1 entries- fodboldspiller noun (one who plays football)
Dutch
4 entries- voetballer noun (one who plays football)
- voetbalspeelster noun (one who plays football)
- voetbalspeler noun (one who plays football)
- voetbalster noun (one who plays football)
Estonian
1 entries- jalgpallur noun (one who plays football)
Faroese
1 entries- fótbóltsspælari noun (one who plays football)
Finnish
1 entries- jalkapalloilija noun (one who plays football)
French
2 entries- footballeur noun (one who plays football)
- footballeuse noun (one who plays football)
Galician
1 entries- futbolista noun (one who plays football)
Georgian
1 entries- ფეხბურთელი noun (one who plays football)
German
4 entries- Fussballer noun (one who plays football)
- Fussballerin noun (one who plays football)
- Fussballspieler noun (one who plays football)
- Fussballspielerin noun (one who plays football)
Greek
2 entries- ποδοσφαιρίστρια noun (one who plays football)
- ποδοσφαιριστής noun (one who plays football)
Hebrew
1 entries- כַּדּוּרַגְלָן noun (one who plays football)
Hungarian
4 entries- focista noun (one who plays football)
- futballista noun (one who plays football)
- futballjátékos noun (one who plays football)
- labdarúgó noun (one who plays football)
Icelandic
2 entries- fótboltamaður noun (one who plays football)
- knattspyrnumaður noun (one who plays football)
Irish
1 entries- peileadóir noun (one who plays football)
Italian
2 entries- calciatore noun (one who plays football)
- calciatrice noun (one who plays football)
Japanese
1 entries- サッカー選手 noun (one who plays football)
Karakalpak
1 entries- futbolshı noun (one who plays football)
Kazakh
1 entries- футболшы noun (one who plays football)
Korean
1 entries- 축구 선수 noun (one who plays football)
Kyrgyz
1 entries- буттопчу noun (one who plays football)
Latvian
2 entries- futboliste noun (one who plays football)
- futbolists noun (one who plays football)
Lithuanian
2 entries- fùtbolininkas noun (one who plays football)
- fùtbolininkė noun (one who plays football)
Macedonian
2 entries- фудбалер noun (one who plays football)
- фудбалерка noun (one who plays football)
Norwegian Bokmål
2 entries- fotballspeller noun (one who plays football)
- fotballspiller noun (one who plays football)
Norwegian Nynorsk
1 entries- fotballspelar noun (one who plays football)
Occitan
2 entries- fotbolaira noun (one who plays football)
- fotbolaire noun (one who plays football)
Persian
1 entries- فوتبالیست noun (one who plays football)
Polish
3 entries- piłkarka nożna noun (one who plays football)
- piłkarz noun (one who plays football)
- piłkarz nożny noun (one who plays football)
Portuguese
3 entries- futebolista noun (one who plays football)
- jogador de futebol noun (one who plays football)
- jogadora de futebol noun (one who plays football)
Romanian
2 entries- fotbalist noun (one who plays football)
- fotbalistă noun (one who plays football)
Russian
2 entries- футболи́ст noun (one who plays football)
- футболи́стка noun (one who plays football)
Serbo-Croatian
4 entries- nogometaš noun (one who plays football)
- nogometašica noun (one who plays football)
- ногометаш noun (one who plays football)
- ногометашица noun (one who plays football)
Slovak
2 entries- futbalista noun (one who plays football)
- futbalistka noun (one who plays football)
Slovene
2 entries- nogometáš noun (one who plays football)
- nogometášica noun (one who plays football)
Spanish
2 entries- balompedista noun (one who plays football)
- futbolista noun (one who plays football)
Swahili
1 entries- mwanasoka noun (one who plays football)
Swedish
1 entries- fotbollsspelare noun (one who plays football)
Tajik
1 entries- футболбоз noun (one who plays football)
Tatar
1 entries- футболчы noun (one who plays football)
Turkish
1 entries- futbolcu noun (one who plays football)
Turkmen
1 entries- futbolçy noun (one who plays football)
Ukrainian
2 entries- футболі́ст noun (one who plays football)
- футболі́стка noun (one who plays football)
Uzbek
1 entries- futbolchi noun (one who plays football)
Walloon
2 entries- fotbaleu noun (one who plays football)
- fotbalisse noun (one who plays football)
Welsh
2 entries- pêl-droediwr noun (one who plays football)
- pêl-droedwraig noun (one who plays football)
Yiddish
1 entries- פֿוסבאָליסט noun (one who plays football)
Sample sentences
12 total sentences available.
David Beckham is a good footballer.
Source: tatoeba (1676674)
A footballer, who had two cervical vertebrae broken in a tackle last week, may never walk again.
Source: tatoeba (3148079)
Tom is an old footballer.
Source: tatoeba (3368837)
Showing 4 of 12 available sentences.
Common questions
What are the closest synonyms for "footballer"?
Closest matches include football player, soccer player, archer, association footballer, athlete.
How should I check whether a synonym fits "footballer"?
Compare the replacement against real sentence context. This entry includes sample sentences so you can check tone, grammar, and meaning before swapping words.