rival

1 of 3

noun

ri·​val ˈrī-vəl How to pronounce rival (audio)
1
a
: one of two or more striving to reach or obtain something that only one can possess
b
: one striving for competitive advantage
2
obsolete : companion, associate
3
: equal, peer

rival

2 of 3

adjective

: having the same pretensions or claims : competing

rival

3 of 3

verb

rivaled or rivalled; rivaling or rivalling ˈrīv-(ə-)liŋ How to pronounce rival (audio)

intransitive verb

: to act as a rival : compete

transitive verb

1
: to be in competition with
2
: to strive to equal or excel : emulate
3
: to possess qualities or aptitudes that approach or equal (those of another)

Did you know?

On Rivals, Rivaling, and Rivalry

The word rival most commonly refers to a person or group that tries to defeat or be more successful than another person or group, which means that rivals tend to come in pairs. Candidates running for the same political office are political rivals, and two people trying to earn the exclusive affection of a third are romantic rivals. Teams, schools, or companies might be longtime rivals if they try over many years to outdo each other.

Rival can also mean “equal” or “peer.” When the word is used in this way it's usually conveying how good or impressive something or someone is. For example, "a country musician the rival of any in the world" is as good as the best country musicians in the world. Often a negating word is added to assert superiority, as in "a country musician without rival."

As a verb, rival typically has a meaning that relates to this latter sense of the noun. The verb is most often used to say that someone or something possesses qualities or aptitudes that approach or equal those of another. For example, for one country musician to be rivaling another, the first country musician must be as good as or nearly as good as the other musician. (Note that in U.S. English, the verb's forms are usually spelled rivaled and rivaling; in British English rivalled and rivalling are preferred.)

The noun rivalry has to do with the state or situation in which rivals (usually in the “competitor” sense) exist, or in which rivaling happens. In politics we have political rivalries, and in matters of the heart there are romantic rivalries. Sibling rivalry exists when there is competition or jealousy between sisters or brothers.

Examples of rival in a Sentence

Noun The teams have been longtime rivals. The men are romantic rivals for her affection. Verb The company manufactures paper that rivals the world's best. The new museum will rival the largest in the world.
Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
Google recently received a €2.42 billion ($2.64 billion) antitrust fine from the EU for using its own price comparison shopping service to gain an unfair advantage over smaller European rivals. Scott Roxborough, The Hollywood Reporter, 7 Mar. 2024 But on wage growth and inflation, former President Donald Trump holds the edge over his likely rival in November. Jacob Turcotte, The Christian Science Monitor, 6 Mar. 2024 Not only was a trip to the state finals at stake, but the Chancellors were playing West Valley League rival Cleveland, which defeated them twice during the regular season. Steve Galluzzo, Los Angeles Times, 6 Mar. 2024 The United States Women’s National Team faces another of its CONCACAF rivals, this time in the W Gold Cup semifinals. Damian Calhoun, San Diego Union-Tribune, 5 Mar. 2024 Yet Tesla is also facing steep competition in the Chinese market from its local rivals, like BYD, which boasts Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway as a backer, or Chinese EV startup Li Auto. Lionel Lim, Fortune Asia, 5 Mar. 2024 President Biden’s advisers are eager for the coming general-election fight and counting on voters to start paying more attention to Donald J. Trump, with the president himself even proposing and dashing off videos to ridicule the things his Republican rival says. Maggie Haberman, New York Times, 5 Mar. 2024 The demand for premium local content to lure African subscribers has sparked an arms race among the market’s two strongest rivals to lock down the continent’s top talents. Christopher Vourlias, Variety, 4 Mar. 2024 Statistical evidence of the damage being done has been around since 2022 when a report from Sheffield Hallam University claimed clubs with parachute payments were three times more likely to be promoted than their rivals. Zak Garner-Purkis, Forbes, 24 Feb. 2024
Adjective
That could give a leg up to rival browsers such as Opera or Mozilla’s Firefox and competing search engines including DuckDuckGo or Microsoft’s Bing. Krystal Hur, CNN, 8 Mar. 2024 Its movement will be constrained by both security forces and ISWAP, a rival offshoot with which the group regularly clashes. Rachel Chason, Washington Post, 8 Mar. 2024 But Down Under, little stands in the way of BYD and rival Chinese EV makers. Steve Mollman, Fortune, 7 Mar. 2024 Timberlake, one of the seven KU seniors honored pregame, hit back-to-back 3-pointers in the second half to put Kansas up big over rival Kansas State. Shreyas Laddha, Kansas City Star, 6 Mar. 2024 The probe into the motorcycle clubs began last year following acts of violence stemming from a dispute between dozens of rival Hells Angels, Salida Nomads and Mongol members, according to the Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Department. Hannah Fry, Los Angeles Times, 6 Mar. 2024 In mid-2022, hundreds of members were killed in several consecutive wars with rival gangs and police shootouts, according to a September 2023 U.N. report, which estimated the gang shrunk from about 500 members to about 80. Chris Eberhart, Fox News, 5 Mar. 2024 The most recent example was Hillary Clinton in 2016 Hillary Clinton had the delegates for a first-ballot nomination but had to deal with a convention hall that often seemed dominated by the backers of rival Bernie Sanders, the senator from Vermont. Ron Elving, NPR, 3 Mar. 2024 The crypto infrastructure company would enable its parent to compete with rival CME Group in selling bitcoin futures. Nina Bambysheva, Forbes, 23 Feb. 2024
Verb
First announced during Target’s earnings call on Tuesday, the new plan will rival similar offerings by Walmart and Amazon that axe shipping costs for an annual fee. Amrita Khalid, The Verge, 7 Mar. 2024 Tesla rivals Rivian, Lucid, and Fisker were riding high a few years ago. Steve Mollman, Fortune, 3 Mar. 2024 The Atlantic diet is making a name for itself in the research world, and could rival the Mediterranean diet as an alternative way to significantly boost overall health. Sarah Garone, Health, 1 Mar. 2024 Its work would rival leading AI labs like Google/DeepMind and, barring safety concerns, be open-source—freely and publicly available for anyone to use, modify and distribute—principles Musk said were then enshrined in OpenAI’s founding agreement. Robert Hart, Forbes, 1 Mar. 2024 And there's other factors to consider when picking a viewing spot, including traffic, which some experts warn could rival or surpass that of the 2017 solar eclipse. Doyle Rice, USA TODAY, 25 Feb. 2024 Move on to the hip Edge neighborhood for more mural spotting, coffee or cocktails at buzzy Intermezzo, and lunch at local favorite Bodega, which rivals Miami with its spot-on Cuban cuisine. Angela Caraway-Carlton, Miami Herald, 23 Feb. 2024 Emma Stone and Yorgos Lanthimos have a sense of comic timing that rivals Nichols and May. Stephen Rodrick, Variety, 21 Feb. 2024 The energy demands of AI, particularly for data centers, are soaring, potentially rivalling the consumption of entire countries like Brazil, South Korea or Germany. Sumant Sinha, Forbes, 26 Feb. 2024

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

Word History

Etymology

Noun

Middle French or Latin; Middle French, from Latin rivalis one using the same stream as another, rival in love, from rivalis of a stream, from rivus stream — more at run

First Known Use

Noun

1577, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Adjective

1592, in the meaning defined above

Verb

1607, in the meaning defined at transitive sense

Time Traveler
The first known use of rival was in 1577

Dictionary Entries Near rival

Cite this Entry

“Rival.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/rival. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

rival

1 of 3 noun
ri·​val ˈrī-vəl How to pronounce rival (audio)
1
a
: one of two or more trying to get what only one can have
2
: one that equals another : peer

rival

2 of 3 adjective
: of, relating to, or being a rival

rival

3 of 3 verb
rivaled or rivalled; rivaling or rivalling ˈrīv-(ə-)liŋ How to pronounce rival (audio)
1
: to be in competition with
2
: to be as good as or almost as good as
manufacture linens that rival the world's best
Etymology

Noun

from early French rival "rival," from Latin rivalis "one using the same stream as another, a rival in love," from rivalis (adjective) "of a stream," from rivus "stream"

Word Origin
The English word rival can be traced to the Latin word rivus, meaning "a stream." From rivus came the Latin rivalis, which meant "one who uses the same stream as another." Those who must share a stream may argue about who has the right to use the water. Such disputes are common when two people want the same thing. The Latin word rivalis in time came to be used for other people who are also likely to fight with each other. It meant "a man in love with the same woman as another man." This sense of rivalis came into English as rival.

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