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A word to describe a situation, in which the eventual winner in the competition is hardly predictable
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What's the right word to describe a situation in a sports competition or in elections, in which both competitors are equal on all parameters and it is absolutely not clear which one of them will be the winner?
word-request
asked 5 hours ago
brilliant
91421326
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up vote
1
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What's the right word to describe a situation in a sports competition or in elections, in which both competitors are equal on all parameters and it is absolutely not clear which one of them will be the winner?
word-request
asked 5 hours ago
brilliant
91421326
Your question changes when you add "Could I exclaim ....?" as you do below in a comment. With only two candidates, "too close to call", as suggested by em in that answer, is apt, but we could not really exclaim "What a too close to call election!". Turning that phrase into a modifier placed before the noun like that is something most native speakers would avoid. But What a close election! is idiomatic.
– TᴚoɯÉÂuo
3 hours ago
add a comment |Â
up vote
1
down vote
favorite
up vote
1
down vote
favorite
What's the right word to describe a situation in a sports competition or in elections, in which both competitors are equal on all parameters and it is absolutely not clear which one of them will be the winner?
word-request
asked 5 hours ago
brilliant
91421326
What's the right word to describe a situation in a sports competition or in elections, in which both competitors are equal on all parameters and it is absolutely not clear which one of them will be the winner?
word-request
word-request
asked 5 hours ago
brilliant
91421326
asked 5 hours ago
brilliant
91421326
asked 5 hours ago
brilliant
91421326
asked 5 hours ago
brilliant
91421326
asked 5 hours ago
brilliant
91421326
91421326
Your question changes when you add "Could I exclaim ....?" as you do below in a comment. With only two candidates, "too close to call", as suggested by em in that answer, is apt, but we could not really exclaim "What a too close to call election!". Turning that phrase into a modifier placed before the noun like that is something most native speakers would avoid. But What a close election! is idiomatic.
– TᴚoɯÉÂuo
3 hours ago
add a comment |Â
Your question changes when you add "Could I exclaim ....?" as you do below in a comment. With only two candidates, "too close to call", as suggested by em in that answer, is apt, but we could not really exclaim "What a too close to call election!". Turning that phrase into a modifier placed before the noun like that is something most native speakers would avoid. But What a close election! is idiomatic.
– TᴚoɯÉÂuo
3 hours ago
Your question changes when you add "Could I exclaim ....?" as you do below in a comment. With only two candidates, "too close to call", as suggested by em in that answer, is apt, but we could not really exclaim "What a too close to call election!". Turning that phrase into a modifier placed before the noun like that is something most native speakers would avoid. But What a close election! is idiomatic.
– TᴚoɯÉÂuo
3 hours ago
Your question changes when you add "Could I exclaim ....?" as you do below in a comment. With only two candidates, "too close to call", as suggested by em in that answer, is apt, but we could not really exclaim "What a too close to call election!". Turning that phrase into a modifier placed before the noun like that is something most native speakers would avoid. But What a close election! is idiomatic.
– TᴚoɯÉÂuo
3 hours ago
add a comment |Â
3 Answers
3
active
oldest
votes
up vote
3
down vote
accepted
Not a single word, but the usual term is "wide open". See Collins Cobuild:
If you say that a competition, race, or election is wide open, you
mean that anyone could win it, because there is no competitor who
seems to be much better than the others. The competition has been
thrown wide open by the absence of the world champion.
answered 5 hours ago
JeremyC
4,2392916
1
Could I say something like "What a wide-open competition!"?
– brilliant
5 hours ago
Um. I can't quite put my finger on it, but something sounds a bit wrong with that. Maybe it is because a competition is wide open or not. If you say 'What a nice day!', that works because there are degrees of niceness of day, whereas with competitions it does not (to my ears).
– JeremyC
4 hours ago
So, how can I put it into an exclamation? Like I am really excited about the fact that this race is wide open.
– brilliant
4 hours ago
You could say, "What a close-run competition."
– chasly from UK
3 hours ago
1
+1 for wide open (but it usually involves multiple candidates). I think you could exclaim something like "The competition is wide open!" or even "Such a wide-open competition!"
– TᴚoɯÉÂuo
3 hours ago
 |Â
show 2 more comments
up vote
2
down vote
You might call it "close":
close
adjective
1.4 (with reference to a competitive situation) involving only a small margin between winner and loser.
‘the race will be a close contest’
‘she finished a close second’
(ODO)
You can also comment that it's "too close to call":
too close to call
COMMON If a contest is too close to call, it is impossible to say who will win, because the opponents seem equally good or equally popular. The presidential race is too close to call. Exit polls in Britain say that today's parliamentary election was too close to call.
(TFD)
answered 5 hours ago
Em.♦
36.3k10104123
add a comment |Â
up vote
1
down vote
As JeremyC mentions, there is no single word for this, but there are multiple expressions. He already mentions "wide open", but there are others:
It's anyone's game.
It's too close to call (there is no way to confidently predict the winner).
It's a toss up (random, like tossing a coin)
It's a dead heat (as in a race, when neither runner is clearly ahead)
It's an even match/contest (neither participant has a clear advantage)
It's down to the wire (as in horse racing, with a wire across the finish line, and none of the horses clearly in the lead)
It's neck and neck (another horse racing expression, when the horses are too close together to see which is clearly in the lead)
Finally, there's the expression "photo finish", which is used after the race is over, but there is still no clear winner. Again, with horse racing, a photo would be taken at the finish line, then developed and examined to see which horse (if any) was ahead.
Naturally this can be used for any competition:
answered 1 hour ago
Andrew
60.8k570136
add a comment |Â
3 Answers
3
active
oldest
votes
3 Answers
3
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
up vote
3
down vote
accepted
Not a single word, but the usual term is "wide open". See Collins Cobuild:
If you say that a competition, race, or election is wide open, you
mean that anyone could win it, because there is no competitor who
seems to be much better than the others. The competition has been
thrown wide open by the absence of the world champion.
answered 5 hours ago
JeremyC
4,2392916
1
Could I say something like "What a wide-open competition!"?
– brilliant
5 hours ago
Um. I can't quite put my finger on it, but something sounds a bit wrong with that. Maybe it is because a competition is wide open or not. If you say 'What a nice day!', that works because there are degrees of niceness of day, whereas with competitions it does not (to my ears).
– JeremyC
4 hours ago
So, how can I put it into an exclamation? Like I am really excited about the fact that this race is wide open.
– brilliant
4 hours ago
You could say, "What a close-run competition."
– chasly from UK
3 hours ago
1
+1 for wide open (but it usually involves multiple candidates). I think you could exclaim something like "The competition is wide open!" or even "Such a wide-open competition!"
– TᴚoɯÉÂuo
3 hours ago
 |Â
show 2 more comments
up vote
3
down vote
accepted
Not a single word, but the usual term is "wide open". See Collins Cobuild:
If you say that a competition, race, or election is wide open, you
mean that anyone could win it, because there is no competitor who
seems to be much better than the others. The competition has been
thrown wide open by the absence of the world champion.
answered 5 hours ago
JeremyC
4,2392916
1
Could I say something like "What a wide-open competition!"?
– brilliant
5 hours ago
Um. I can't quite put my finger on it, but something sounds a bit wrong with that. Maybe it is because a competition is wide open or not. If you say 'What a nice day!', that works because there are degrees of niceness of day, whereas with competitions it does not (to my ears).
– JeremyC
4 hours ago
So, how can I put it into an exclamation? Like I am really excited about the fact that this race is wide open.
– brilliant
4 hours ago
You could say, "What a close-run competition."
– chasly from UK
3 hours ago
1
+1 for wide open (but it usually involves multiple candidates). I think you could exclaim something like "The competition is wide open!" or even "Such a wide-open competition!"
– TᴚoɯÉÂuo
3 hours ago
 |Â
show 2 more comments
up vote
3
down vote
accepted
up vote
3
down vote
accepted
Not a single word, but the usual term is "wide open". See Collins Cobuild:
If you say that a competition, race, or election is wide open, you
mean that anyone could win it, because there is no competitor who
seems to be much better than the others. The competition has been
thrown wide open by the absence of the world champion.
answered 5 hours ago
JeremyC
4,2392916
Not a single word, but the usual term is "wide open". See Collins Cobuild:
If you say that a competition, race, or election is wide open, you
mean that anyone could win it, because there is no competitor who
seems to be much better than the others. The competition has been
thrown wide open by the absence of the world champion.
answered 5 hours ago
JeremyC
4,2392916
answered 5 hours ago
JeremyC
4,2392916
answered 5 hours ago
JeremyC
4,2392916
answered 5 hours ago
JeremyC
4,2392916
4,2392916
1
Could I say something like "What a wide-open competition!"?
– brilliant
5 hours ago
Um. I can't quite put my finger on it, but something sounds a bit wrong with that. Maybe it is because a competition is wide open or not. If you say 'What a nice day!', that works because there are degrees of niceness of day, whereas with competitions it does not (to my ears).
– JeremyC
4 hours ago
So, how can I put it into an exclamation? Like I am really excited about the fact that this race is wide open.
– brilliant
4 hours ago
You could say, "What a close-run competition."
– chasly from UK
3 hours ago
1
+1 for wide open (but it usually involves multiple candidates). I think you could exclaim something like "The competition is wide open!" or even "Such a wide-open competition!"
– TᴚoɯÉÂuo
3 hours ago
 |Â
show 2 more comments
1
Could I say something like "What a wide-open competition!"?
– brilliant
5 hours ago
Um. I can't quite put my finger on it, but something sounds a bit wrong with that. Maybe it is because a competition is wide open or not. If you say 'What a nice day!', that works because there are degrees of niceness of day, whereas with competitions it does not (to my ears).
– JeremyC
4 hours ago
So, how can I put it into an exclamation? Like I am really excited about the fact that this race is wide open.
– brilliant
4 hours ago
You could say, "What a close-run competition."
– chasly from UK
3 hours ago
1
+1 for wide open (but it usually involves multiple candidates). I think you could exclaim something like "The competition is wide open!" or even "Such a wide-open competition!"
– TᴚoɯÉÂuo
3 hours ago
1
1
Could I say something like "What a wide-open competition!"?
– brilliant
5 hours ago
Could I say something like "What a wide-open competition!"?
– brilliant
5 hours ago
Um. I can't quite put my finger on it, but something sounds a bit wrong with that. Maybe it is because a competition is wide open or not. If you say 'What a nice day!', that works because there are degrees of niceness of day, whereas with competitions it does not (to my ears).
– JeremyC
4 hours ago
Um. I can't quite put my finger on it, but something sounds a bit wrong with that. Maybe it is because a competition is wide open or not. If you say 'What a nice day!', that works because there are degrees of niceness of day, whereas with competitions it does not (to my ears).
– JeremyC
4 hours ago
So, how can I put it into an exclamation? Like I am really excited about the fact that this race is wide open.
– brilliant
4 hours ago
So, how can I put it into an exclamation? Like I am really excited about the fact that this race is wide open.
– brilliant
4 hours ago
You could say, "What a close-run competition."
– chasly from UK
3 hours ago
You could say, "What a close-run competition."
– chasly from UK
3 hours ago
1
1
+1 for wide open (but it usually involves multiple candidates). I think you could exclaim something like "The competition is wide open!" or even "Such a wide-open competition!"
– TᴚoɯÉÂuo
3 hours ago
+1 for wide open (but it usually involves multiple candidates). I think you could exclaim something like "The competition is wide open!" or even "Such a wide-open competition!"
– TᴚoɯÉÂuo
3 hours ago
 |Â
show 2 more comments
up vote
2
down vote
You might call it "close":
close
adjective
1.4 (with reference to a competitive situation) involving only a small margin between winner and loser.
‘the race will be a close contest’
‘she finished a close second’
(ODO)
You can also comment that it's "too close to call":
too close to call
COMMON If a contest is too close to call, it is impossible to say who will win, because the opponents seem equally good or equally popular. The presidential race is too close to call. Exit polls in Britain say that today's parliamentary election was too close to call.
(TFD)
answered 5 hours ago
Em.♦
36.3k10104123
add a comment |Â
up vote
2
down vote
You might call it "close":
close
adjective
1.4 (with reference to a competitive situation) involving only a small margin between winner and loser.
‘the race will be a close contest’
‘she finished a close second’
(ODO)
You can also comment that it's "too close to call":
too close to call
COMMON If a contest is too close to call, it is impossible to say who will win, because the opponents seem equally good or equally popular. The presidential race is too close to call. Exit polls in Britain say that today's parliamentary election was too close to call.
(TFD)
answered 5 hours ago
Em.♦
36.3k10104123
add a comment |Â
up vote
2
down vote
up vote
2
down vote
You might call it "close":
close
adjective
1.4 (with reference to a competitive situation) involving only a small margin between winner and loser.
‘the race will be a close contest’
‘she finished a close second’
(ODO)
You can also comment that it's "too close to call":
too close to call
COMMON If a contest is too close to call, it is impossible to say who will win, because the opponents seem equally good or equally popular. The presidential race is too close to call. Exit polls in Britain say that today's parliamentary election was too close to call.
(TFD)
answered 5 hours ago
Em.♦
36.3k10104123
You might call it "close":
close
adjective
1.4 (with reference to a competitive situation) involving only a small margin between winner and loser.
‘the race will be a close contest’
‘she finished a close second’
(ODO)
You can also comment that it's "too close to call":
too close to call
COMMON If a contest is too close to call, it is impossible to say who will win, because the opponents seem equally good or equally popular. The presidential race is too close to call. Exit polls in Britain say that today's parliamentary election was too close to call.
(TFD)
answered 5 hours ago
Em.♦
36.3k10104123
answered 5 hours ago
Em.♦
36.3k10104123
answered 5 hours ago
Em.♦
36.3k10104123
answered 5 hours ago
Em.♦
36.3k10104123
36.3k10104123
add a comment |Â
add a comment |Â
up vote
1
down vote
As JeremyC mentions, there is no single word for this, but there are multiple expressions. He already mentions "wide open", but there are others:
It's anyone's game.
It's too close to call (there is no way to confidently predict the winner).
It's a toss up (random, like tossing a coin)
It's a dead heat (as in a race, when neither runner is clearly ahead)
It's an even match/contest (neither participant has a clear advantage)
It's down to the wire (as in horse racing, with a wire across the finish line, and none of the horses clearly in the lead)
It's neck and neck (another horse racing expression, when the horses are too close together to see which is clearly in the lead)
Finally, there's the expression "photo finish", which is used after the race is over, but there is still no clear winner. Again, with horse racing, a photo would be taken at the finish line, then developed and examined to see which horse (if any) was ahead.
Naturally this can be used for any competition:
answered 1 hour ago
Andrew
60.8k570136
add a comment |Â
up vote
1
down vote
As JeremyC mentions, there is no single word for this, but there are multiple expressions. He already mentions "wide open", but there are others:
It's anyone's game.
It's too close to call (there is no way to confidently predict the winner).
It's a toss up (random, like tossing a coin)
It's a dead heat (as in a race, when neither runner is clearly ahead)
It's an even match/contest (neither participant has a clear advantage)
It's down to the wire (as in horse racing, with a wire across the finish line, and none of the horses clearly in the lead)
It's neck and neck (another horse racing expression, when the horses are too close together to see which is clearly in the lead)
Finally, there's the expression "photo finish", which is used after the race is over, but there is still no clear winner. Again, with horse racing, a photo would be taken at the finish line, then developed and examined to see which horse (if any) was ahead.
Naturally this can be used for any competition:
answered 1 hour ago
Andrew
60.8k570136
add a comment |Â
up vote
1
down vote
up vote
1
down vote
As JeremyC mentions, there is no single word for this, but there are multiple expressions. He already mentions "wide open", but there are others:
It's anyone's game.
It's too close to call (there is no way to confidently predict the winner).
It's a toss up (random, like tossing a coin)
It's a dead heat (as in a race, when neither runner is clearly ahead)
It's an even match/contest (neither participant has a clear advantage)
It's down to the wire (as in horse racing, with a wire across the finish line, and none of the horses clearly in the lead)
It's neck and neck (another horse racing expression, when the horses are too close together to see which is clearly in the lead)
Finally, there's the expression "photo finish", which is used after the race is over, but there is still no clear winner. Again, with horse racing, a photo would be taken at the finish line, then developed and examined to see which horse (if any) was ahead.
Naturally this can be used for any competition:
answered 1 hour ago
Andrew
60.8k570136
As JeremyC mentions, there is no single word for this, but there are multiple expressions. He already mentions "wide open", but there are others:
It's anyone's game.
It's too close to call (there is no way to confidently predict the winner).
It's a toss up (random, like tossing a coin)
It's a dead heat (as in a race, when neither runner is clearly ahead)
It's an even match/contest (neither participant has a clear advantage)
It's down to the wire (as in horse racing, with a wire across the finish line, and none of the horses clearly in the lead)
It's neck and neck (another horse racing expression, when the horses are too close together to see which is clearly in the lead)
Finally, there's the expression "photo finish", which is used after the race is over, but there is still no clear winner. Again, with horse racing, a photo would be taken at the finish line, then developed and examined to see which horse (if any) was ahead.
Naturally this can be used for any competition:
answered 1 hour ago
Andrew
60.8k570136
edited 1 hour ago
answered 1 hour ago
Andrew
60.8k570136
answered 1 hour ago
Andrew
60.8k570136
answered 1 hour ago
Andrew
60.8k570136
60.8k570136
add a comment |Â
add a comment |Â
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Your question changes when you add "Could I exclaim ....?" as you do below in a comment. With only two candidates, "too close to call", as suggested by em in that answer, is apt, but we could not really exclaim "What a too close to call election!". Turning that phrase into a modifier placed before the noun like that is something most native speakers would avoid. But What a close election! is idiomatic.
– TᴚoɯÉÂuo
3 hours ago