also-ran
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
That’s what accounts for almost all of the $28.5 trillion “total addressable market” the company claims for its services, never mind that it’s a distant also-ran in the AI business.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 16, 2026
The company was once an also-ran in the AI race, chasing what appeared to be a near-insurmountable OpenAI lead after the company released ChatGPT in late 2022 and began accumulating hundreds of millions of users.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 28, 2026
Seeded as an also-ran at No. 23, she upset Coco Gauff and Karolina Muchova before falling in a tight three-set match to Amanda Anisimova.
From Los Angeles Times • May 28, 2026
Even classical music listeners have their version in what may be the most legendary rivalry of all — the one that also-ran Italian composer Antonio Salieri supposedly nursed with Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
From Salon • May 16, 2026
His musical efflorescence was tragically brief, but this is the man who turned the chord-strumming, jobbing electric guitar into a high-wire, virtuoso lead instrument, from also-ran to star turn.
From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall
![]()