# challenger

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈt͡ʃælɪn(d)ʒə/ · frequency rank #10,509

## Definitions
1. One who challenges.
2. One who challenges.
3. One who challenges.
4. One who challenges.
5. Often in the form Challenger: a match, tournament, or tour of the second-highest tier organized by the Association of Tennis Professionals.

## Etymology
Inherited from Middle English chalengere, chalangeour, chalenger (“one who causes injury, or makes false charges or slanderous statements; one who disputes, disputant, objector; claimant”), and then partly from both of the following:
* From Middle English chalengen (“to accuse; to accuse falsely or maliciously, slander; to treat unjustly, wrong; to dispute, object; to make a claim or demand; to rebuke, scold; to issue a challenge to; etc.”) + -er, -ere (suffix forming agent nouns). Chalengen is derived from Anglo-Norman chalenger, and Old French chalenger, chalongier (“to challenge, dispute; to claim; etc.”) (modern French challenger), from Late Latin calumniāre, the second-person singular present active imperative or indicative of calumnior (“to accuse falsely; to make hurtful untrue comments about; etc.”), from Latin calumnia (“artifice, trickery; false accusation; false statement; etc.”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ḱeh₁l-, *keh₁l- (“to beguile, deceive”)) + -or (the first-person singular present passive indicative of -ō (suffix forming regular first-conjugation verbs)).
* From Old French chalengeor (“claimant, plaintiff; false accuser, slanderer”) (modern French challengeur), from chalenger, chalongier (see above) + -eor (variant of -or (suffix forming agent nouns)).
By surface analysis, challenge (verb) + -er (suffix forming agent nouns).

## Easily confused with
- **challenges** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/challenger-vs-challenges)
- **challenge** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/challenge-vs-challenger)
- **challenged** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/challenged-vs-challenger)

## Common misspellings (14)
`cahllenger`, `cchallenger`, `chalelnger`, `chalenger`, `challegner`, `challenegr`, `challengerr`, `challengger`, `challengre`, `challennger`, `challneger`, `chhallenger`, `chlalenger`, `hcallenger`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/challenger