DictionaryAI

winner

noun
USWIN-ur/ˈwɪnɚ/UKWIN-uh/ˈwɪnə/

Pluralwinners

4 meanings of winner

Practice

  1. 1
    victornouncountable
    A person, team, animal, or thing that has won something, or that tends to win often.

    The election's clear winner addressed supporters late that night.

    Some athletes are perennial winners, rarely finishing outside the top spot.

    UsageUsually the winner of something: the winner of the election, a clear winner.

    Similarvictor, champion

    Oppositeloser

    Note

    The word easily leaves the contest behind. In Joseph C. Lincoln's Mr. Pratt's Patients (1913) a sanitarium is jokingly crowned "the cup winner" among odd gatherings, and in The Notorious B.I.G.'s "Juicy" (1994) a winner is simply someone who has made it, set against someone who seemed destined from birth to go wrong.

  2. 2
    big successnouncolloquialcountable
    A product, idea, plan, or similar thing that is a great success or a popular hit, or looks likely to become one.

    The marketing team knew at once that the new flavor was a winner.

    Your plan to open on Sundays sounds like a winner to me.

    UsageOften in a real winner or sounds like a winner: a plan that looks like a winner.

    Similarhit, success

    Oppositeflop, dud, failure

  3. 3
    deciding goalnouncountable
    The point or goal that secures victory in a competition.

    She fired the winner past the keeper in the final minute.

    His three-pointer at the buzzer turned out to be the winner.

    UsageUsually the winner, after score, get or fire: she scored the winner.

    Similardecider, clincher

    Note

    A sportswriter's use, where the winner is the score rather than the scorer. It usually comes with a verb of scoring, often as the winner or a late winner: a player gets, scores or fires the winner, as when BBC Sport's report on Arsenal 1-0 Everton (2011) has Van Persie "get the winner." Because the same noun names the one who wins, context does the sorting: the team is the winner, and so is its late goal.

  4. 4
    nouncountable
    In tennis and other racket sports, a shot that the opposing player cannot reach or send back, ending the point in the hitter's favor at once.

    She struck a backhand winner down the line to break serve in the third set.

    He finished the match with 38 winners and only 11 unforced errors.

    Note

    A tennis winner wins only the rally, not the match, which is what sets it apart from the deciding point or goal. Players hit or strike winners, usually named by the stroke (a forehand winner, a backhand winner down the line), and match statistics count them against unforced errors: a high tally of winners with few errors is the sign of a player in control.

Practice

Can you tell the meanings of winner apart? Answer 3 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.

Origin

Inherited from Middle English wynner, this is simply 'win' plus the suffix '-er', with related forms in Dutch (winnaar), German (Gewinner), Danish (vinder), and Swedish (vinnare).

Checked 5 Nov 2026 · 6 facts