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

While growth may have been slower than some competitors at first, over time, consumer trust has paid off. —Serenity Gibbons, Forbes.com, 27 Jan. 2026

Competition is not only what your competitor is doing, but what your customer can do. —Liz Hoffman, semafor.com, 27 Jan. 2026

This constitution, which Anthropic just updated, is one thing that differentiates Anthropic’s AI models from those offered by its competitors, such as OpenAI, Google, Meta, and Elon Musk’s xAI. —Jeremy Kahn, Fortune, 27 Jan. 2026

While those competitors have been posting higher margins for several years, American expects to close that gap through strong premium demand and the launch of a new travel credit card, May said. —Sri Taylor, Bloomberg, 27 Jan. 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