loser vs runner-up

loser

noun
  • A person who loses; one who fails to win or thrive. 

  • A person convicted of a crime, especially more than once. 

  • One who or that which loses something, such as extra weight, car keys, etc. 

  • A person who is frequently unsuccessful in life. 

  • A losing proposition, one that is likely to lose or already has lost (such as a losing bet or, analogously, a predictably fruitless task or errand). 

  • Something of poor quality. 

  • A contemptible or unfashionable person. 

runner-up

noun
  • The person who finishes second, or in any position after the first. 

  • Second favourite. 

How often have the words loser and runner-up occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )