competitor

noun

com·​pet·​i·​tor kəm-ˈpe-tə-tər 

: one that competes: such as

a

: rival

a fierce competitor on the soccer field

b

: one selling or buying goods or services in the same market as another

offering lower prices than our competitors

c

: an organism that lives in competition with another

The squid population increased dramatically when food competitors were depleted by heavy overfishing.

Synonyms of competitor

• contestant
• contender
• rival
• challenger

Examples of competitor in a Sentence

We offer better rates than our competitors.

There were more than 500 competitors in the race.

Recent Examples on the Web

Its competitors, Joint Commission and Community Health Accreditation Partners, or CHAP, saw increases of 22% and 12%, respectively, in the same time frame. — Jason Henry, Daily News, 9 Aug. 2026

When knowledge is dispersed and conditions change rapidly, routing every decision upward creates delay and turns potential collaborators into internal competitors. — Steve Denning, Forbes.com, 9 Aug. 2026

But Biedscheid wrote in his ruling that these features are used across the social media industry on other platforms, so restricting Meta's features but not those of its competitors would harm the company. — ABC News, 8 Aug. 2026

The objective should be to build an ecosystem where American and allied manufacturers compete to produce the world’s best robotics, raising the bar for the entire industry rather than simply shielding it from global competitors. — Ariyan Kabir, Fortune, 8 Aug. 2026

Word History

Etymology

see competition

First Known Use

1534, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

competitor

noun

com·​pet·​i·​tor kəm-ˈpet-ət-ər 

: one that competes especially in the selling of goods or services : rival