How to Use also-ran in a Sentence

also-ran

noun

• Firstly, the choicest specimens get snatched up early, leaving only the straggly also-rans.
  — Felix Salmon, Axios, 6 Dec. 2024
• And to think at least two of them will be postseason also-rans in 2023.
  — Nate Davis, USA TODAY, 24 Apr. 2023
• This is a choice that will confront others among the also-rans at some point, as well.
  — The Editors, National Review, 28 Aug. 2023
• But instead, the Cubs have been unable to push past the also-ran threshold.
  — Jared Wyllys, Forbes, 25 Nov. 2024
• One of these also-rans was Pete Kreis, who first competed in the race in 1925.
  — Mark Yost, WSJ, 25 May 2023
• His wealth has transformed the fortunes of City, taking the club from an also-ran in the English Premier League to a dominant force.
  — Pan Pylas, Quartz, 13 Mar. 2024
• Plus also-rans from the V.P. search that ended yesterday with Walz as winner.
  — Axios, 7 Aug. 2024
• At a forum like the P.G.A. Championship, those travails separate the elite from the crowd of also-rans that will be thick since the field includes 156 players.
  — Alan Blinder, New York Times, 16 May 2023
• Yet almost two weeks after voters went to the polls, the country of 240 million finds itself on the brink of being governed by a coalition of the also-rans.
  — Hasan Ali, The Christian Science Monitor, 21 Feb. 2024
• Women athletes for decades have mostly been also-rans in the sports marketplace.
  — Joel Mathis, theweek, 22 Mar. 2024
• The 1990 season marked the Reds’ last World Series win before the evolving economics of the game turned them into a near-permanent also-ran.
  — Brandon Harris, The New Yorker, 7 Aug. 2024
• The rules of the 2024 nominating contest are not meant to encourage also-rans from sticking around to pick up a delegate here or there.
  — TIME, 16 Jan. 2024
• That leaves Google — long an also-ran in the U.S. smartphone market — with an opportunity.
  — Chris Velazco, Washington Post, 10 May 2023
• That could change when new episodes premiere on Netflix, which, time and again, has proven its ability to turn other platforms’ also-rans into hits.
  — Vulture, 26 Jan. 2024
• After Petersen, Iacocca and Welch, the rest were also-rans, the poll indicated.
  — Detroit Free Press, 26 Apr. 2024
• Straight country and hip-hop tend to be also-rans when voters are casting ballots in these top four categories, which covers most of the other outside-chancers.
  — Chris Willman, Variety, 4 Oct. 2024
• Haas, in other words, is Formula 1’s basement dweller; their aspirations each year are not to vie for a title but to best fellow also-rans like Williams and Alpine.
  — Erik Shilling, Robb Report, 13 Mar. 2024
• After years of wallowing in also-ran status, the Lions had a magical season that put them on the brink of their first Super Bowl appearance.
  — Gil Kaufman, Billboard, 31 Jan. 2024
• Games were starting to become more popular, but they were powered by CPUs, central processing units, and then graphics were kind of like an also-ran.
  — Lauren Goode, WIRED, 29 Feb. 2024
• But the tragedy of each also-ran still merited rigorous coverage.
  — John Ganz, Harper's Magazine, 22 May 2024
• Nike, for its part, was a running-shoe powerhouse but basketball also-ran, ranking third in market share behind Converse and arguably dead last in terms of street cred.
  — Vulture, 15 May 2023
• But if players such as Smith and Johnson are unable to recreate their past magic sooner than later, the league’s prospects could diminish into a circuit of also-rans.
  — Alan Blinder, BostonGlobe.com, 3 Apr. 2023
• It could be argued that what the Globes really do is bring clarity to the awards race, separating the true contenders from the also-rans and helping studios decide where to focus their campaigns.
  — Todd Longwell, Variety, 21 Dec. 2023
• Typically, ‘tweener products are seen as also-rans, or at most, uninspired copies of an original idea.
  — Kevin Koenig, Robb Report, 17 Jan. 2024
• Where Steil adds unusual value, however, is in documenting the breadth of the damage this also-ran wrought upon our polity.
  — Heather Wilhelm, National Review, 22 Feb. 2024
• With little more than two weeks left in the 162-game schedule, however, winning has become easier for also-rans playing out the schedule than for contenders trying to extend it.
  — Dan Schlossberg, Forbes, 12 Sep. 2024
• DeSantis, by comparison, earns support from 17 percent of voters—with a bevy of also-rans also running in the low single digits.
  — Grace Segers, The New Republic, 31 July 2023
• The talent gulf is readily evident on defense, where Donald and linebacker Ernest Jones will be surrounded by a starting crew of afterthoughts and also-rans.
  — Michael Middlehurst-Schwartz, USA TODAY, 6 June 2023
• Day two was dedicated to the also-rans—when Nikki Haley took the stage, she was met with some interruptive boos and a post-internet pink backdrop that complemented the flowers on her dress.
  — Yiyun Li, Harper's Magazine, 23 Sep. 2024
• Over time, as the studio attempted to navigate rapidly shifting consumer habits and a volatile streaming landscape, Paramount came to be regarded as something of an also-ran.
  — Josh Rottenberg, Los Angeles Times, 9 July 2024

Last Updated: 1 Feb 2025