competitive

adjective

com·​pet·​i·​tive kəm-ˈpe-tə-tiv 

1

: relating to, characterized by, or based on competition

competitive sports

a competitive marketplace

2

: inclined, desiring, or suited to compete

a competitive personality

competitive interest rates

3

: depending for effectiveness on the relative concentration of two or more substances

competitive inhibition of an enzyme

competitively adverb

competitiveness noun

Examples of competitive in a Sentence

She is a very competitive player.

You need a degree to be competitive in today's job market.

Recent Examples on the Web

Calvert — who has represented parts of the Inland Empire for more than three decades — narrowly staved off Rollins last cycle in a race that was far more competitive than expected. —Julia Wick, Los Angeles Times, 26 Apr. 2024

None of the college experts interviewed this week by the Bay Area News Group have any doubt that Bennett will keep the Gaels competitive moving forward. —Joseph Dycus, The Mercury News, 26 Apr. 2024

Those willing to embrace the value that older workers provide will have a competitive advantage. —Martha Boudreau, Fortune, 26 Apr. 2024

How Schmidt would handle a highly competitive multi-candidate primary today is unclear. —Jonathan Shorman, Kansas City Star, 25 Apr. 2024

City officials say the city is now at a competitive advantage to compete for an MSL franchise. —Brian Haenchen, The Indianapolis Star, 25 Apr. 2024

But if open source models prove competitive, developers and entrepreneurs may decide to stop paying to access the latest model from OpenAI or Google and use Llama 3 or one of the other increasingly powerful open source models that are popping up. —Will Knight, WIRED, 25 Apr. 2024

These wage differentials suggest China is gradually losing its competitive advantage in industries that rely on labor-intensive processes, such as household items or sporting goods. —Journal Sentinel, 24 Apr. 2024

Clean energy is a highly competitive, capital-intensive, and rapidly changing industry. —Matteo Wong, The Atlantic, 24 Apr. 2024

Word History

Etymology

see competition

First Known Use

1829, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing competitive

• hyper-competitive

Kids Definition

competitive

adjective

com·​pet·​i·​tive kəm-ˈpet-ət-iv 

: relating to, characterized by, or based on competition

competitive sports

competitive bidding

competitively adverb

competitiveness noun

Medical Definition

competitive

adjective

com·​pet·​i·​tive kəm-ˈpet-ət-iv 

: depending for effectiveness on the relative concentration of two or more substances

competitive inhibition of an enzyme

competitive protein binding

competitively adverb