contrincante

rival, opponent

noun kohn-treen-KAHN-teh Rare

Usage Note

Contrincante is the standard Spanish word for a competitor or rival in a contest; it covers sporting opponents, political rivals, and debate adversaries. It is always masculine in form (el contrincante) but is a common-gender noun — la contrincante for a female rival — so gender agreement follows the referent.

Examples

"Su contrincante era muy experimentado."

Natural Translation

His opponent was very experienced.

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