also-ran

(ôl'sō-răn')
n.

1. A horse that does not win, place, or show in a race.
2. A loser in a competition, as in an election: "had enough support to place him in the middle of the also-rans" (George F. Will).
3. One that has little talent or success: just an also-ran in the art world.

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Loser, failure, unsuccessful individual, as in Jane feared that her candidate, a terrible speaker, would end up as an also-ran, or As for getting promotions, Mark counted himself among the also-rans. This term comes from racing, where it describes a horse that finishes in fourth place or lower or does not finish a race at all. It first appeared in the 1890s in published racing results, and has since been transferred to losers in any kind of competition, and also more broadly to persons who simply don't do well.

For a list of words related to also-ran, see:

• Horse and Dog Racing
• Behavior or Personality

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Dansk (Danish)
n. - taber, nummer sjok

Nederlands (Dutch)
(niet-winnende) deelnemer, onopvallend iemand

Français (French)
n. - (Sport) autre concurrent, cheval non classé, perdant

Deutsch (German)
n. - Verlierer

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - άλογο που απέτυχε σε ιπποδρομία, (μτφ.) αποτυχημένος

Italiano (Italian)
perdente

Português (Portuguese)
n. - cavalo (m) ou competidor (m) que não obteve colocação em uma corrida (Esp.)

Русский (Russian)
неудачник, посредственность

Español (Spanish)
n. - perdedor, fracasado

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - oplacerad, medelmåtta

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
落选者, 庸才, 失败者, 劣等的东西

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 落選者, 庸才, 失敗者, 劣等的東西

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 등수에 들지 못한 말, 실격자, 낙선 후보자

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 等外に落ちた馬, 等外者, 失格選手, 等外馬, 落選候補者

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) متسابق لا يحالفه الحظ‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮כלב או סוס שלא ניצחו במירוץ, אדם רגיל, לא-מתבלט, נכשל (בתחרות)‬

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