Synonyms and related words :
abortion, abortive attempt, also-ran, aspirant, baby kisser, bankrupt, blank cartridge, bogy, bomb, bugaboo, bugbear, bust, candidate, castrato, cipher, cry of wolf, dark horse, defeated candidate, dummy, eunuch, failure, false alarm, favorite son, flop, gelding, hollow man, hopeful, impotent, incompetent, invalid, jackstraw, lame duck, lay figure, lemon, loser, man of straw, merry chase, miscarriage, miscarrying, misfire, nebbish, nobody, nonentity, nothing, nullity, office seeker, political hopeful, presidential timber, puppet, pushover, running mate, stalking-horse, thing of naught, trifle, vain attempt, washout, weakling, wet squib, wild-goose chase, zero,