front runner

or front-runner, frontrunner

See synonyms for front runner on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. a person who leads in any competition.

  2. an entrant in a race who breaks to the front immediately and establishes the pace for the field.

  1. an entrant in a race who performs well only when ahead of the field.

Origin of front runner

1
An Americanism dating back to 1935–40

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use front runner in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for frontrunner

frontrunner

/ (ˈfrʌntˌrʌnə) /


noun
  1. informal the leader or a favoured contestant in a race, election, etc

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012