How to Use benchwarmer in a Sentence

benchwarmer

noun
  • I played a little, but mostly I was a benchwarmer.
  • The forecast is even worse for benchwarmers hoping to make the leap.
    — Dan Hanner & Luke Winn, SI.com, 12 Oct. 2016
  • Frustrating, no doubt, for someone who’d rather be a starter than a benchwarmer.
    — Dallas News, 16 Dec. 2022
  • Thanks to Hunt's soft spot for benchwarmers, all entries—even the losers—will receive a bag of treats.
    — Katie Hill, PEOPLE, 12 May 2026
  • Ex high school benchwarmers are roaming the streets abducting mestizos.
    — Rafael Perez, Oc Register, 30 Nov. 2025
  • The small-market Royals can ill-afford to have $18 million wrapped up in a benchwarmer, this year or the next two seasons.
    — USA TODAY, 9 Aug. 2017
  • Preston started a single basketball game in high school after mostly being a benchwarmer.
    — Scott Horner, The Indianapolis Star, 21 Mar. 2021
  • When the game finally ends with a running clock and every Bobcats benchwarmer on the field, the final score is 57-0.
    — Bill Plaschke, Los Angeles Times, 19 Oct. 2019
  • From Week 1 of last season to Week 1 of this season, Snell has transformed from benchwarmer to bulldozer.
    — Joe Mussatto, ajc, 31 Aug. 2017
  • If a single player tests positive, that player — whether an All-Star or a benchwarmer — would be isolated and quarantined.
    — Jeff McDonald, ExpressNews.com, 26 June 2020
  • But the biggest reason of all is because bowl games are rapidly turning into glorified pre-spring scrimmages where coaches are playing backups and benchwarmers.
    — Mike Bianchi, Orlando Sentinel, 1 Jan. 2024
  • Like an out-of-shape benchwarmer, our intermittent national bicker over the appropriate reasons to award hardware to young athletes has wheezed its way back onto the playing field.
    — Jason Gay, wsj.com, 24 Apr. 2023
  • The visiting Blazers were missing every guard but benchwarmers Caleb Love and Rayan Rupert.
    — Joseph Dycus, Mercury News, 22 Nov. 2025
  • If the celeb haul in Paris is our best representation of American popular culture, here’s a list of who’s who (or qui est qui) at this year’s games, ranging from power player to benchwarmer.
    — Fran Hoepfner, Vulture, 31 July 2024
  • Instead, a kid talented enough to earn a scholarship to Colorado, decided to put that immense talent on hold, someone used to playing starter’s minutes willingly choosing a benchwarmer’s fate.
    — Jeff Miller, Orange County Register, 4 Mar. 2017
  • Brooks was a freshman benchwarmer when the Wildcats steamrolled his Wolverines to win the 2018 national championship in this building, and that might as well have been a lifetime ago.
    — Nick Moyle, San Antonio Express-News, 23 Mar. 2022
  • Predictably, no appearances for the now 34-year-old Scott Carson regen, who swapped Chelsea for City in the position of homegrown box-ticker and benchwarmer.
    — Tim Spiers, New York Times, 26 May 2026
  • Too good to be a benchwarmer, in a starting line-up, the Brazilian’s all-action qualities may align best with Rice to give Arsenal another combative and forward-thinking option in their engine room.
    — Mark Carey, New York Times, 26 June 2026
  • This may be germane to the vast majority of participants in intercollegiate sports, especially participants in small-money athletics and benchwarmers in the big-money sports.
    — Michael Hiltzik, latimes.com, 28 June 2019
  • Last season’s benchwarmer Arda Guler became a regular starter, while 21-year-old forward Gonzalo Garcia made the XI ahead of Rodrygo and Brahim Diaz.
    — Dermot Corrigan, New York Times, 19 Aug. 2025

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'benchwarmer.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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