cellar dweller
Perpetually bottom-ranked competitor
A cellar dweller is a team or competitor occupying last place in standings—stuck in the basement of the rankings.
The term comes from sports journalism but applies to any ranked competition: The franchise has been a cellar dweller for three straight seasons.
Someone literally living in a cellar might also be called this, though the figurative use dominates.
- ratRodent or informer
- basementSubterranean building level
- down belowAt a lower place
- recluseOne choosing isolation
- moldForm-giving container
bottom feeder · subterranean · struggler · underdog · loser · storage · underachiever · underground · dust · dark corner · spelunker · tailender · laggard · also ran · beer leaguer · shadow · earth · damp
- sports loserslast place, wooden spoon, dead last, tailender, losing streak
- losersloser, failure, runner-up, flop, beaten
- Non-winnersloser, runner-up, beaten, defeated, second place
cellar dwellerleague leader
Top performer in standings
front-runner · top dog · first place · frontrunner · conference champion
cellar dwellerdynasty
Successive family rulers
contender · juggernaut · rising star · up-and-comer · Cinderella team
cellar, dweller, cellars, cellared, cellaring, dwell, dwells, dwelt, dwelling