contestant vs actor

contestant and actor both are nouns.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
contestant	Yes	No	No	No
actor	Yes	No	No	No

As nouns, actor is a hypernym of contestant; that is, actor is a word with a broader meaning than contestant:

Other hypernyms of contestant include doer, worker.

As nouns, actor is a hypernym of contestant; that is, actor is a word with a broader meaning than contestant:

Other hypernyms of contestant include doer, worker.

contestant (noun)	actor (noun)
a person who participates in competitions	a theatrical performer
a person who dissents from some established policy	a person who acts and gets things done