1
as in counterparts
one that is equal to another in status, achievement, or value
a design that is a rival to any produced by a professional graphic artist
Synonyms & Similar Words
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2
as in opponents
one that takes a position opposite another in a competition or conflict
the boxer's toughest rival thus far
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in competitors
one who strives for the same thing as another
the four cities that are the top rivals for the site of the next Olympic Games
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
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Recent Examples of rivals
Merritt Enright, CNBC, 21 Oct. 2025
The Israeli Premier League match was due to be played at Bloomfield Stadium, which is shared by the two rivals, but videos on social media showed fans clashing with police both inside and outside the area.
—Amy Woodyatt, CNN Money, 21 Oct. 2025
That was followed by a slump when rivals led by Lilly muscled into the market.
—Dave Smith, Fortune, 21 Oct. 2025
Other well-heeled rivals that are said to be taking a long look at WBD’s TV and film portfolio include Comcast and Netflix.
—Anthony Crupi, Sportico.com, 21 Oct. 2025
The move would subject SpaceX to competition from space technology rivals like Blue Origin and Lockheed Martin.
—Eric Lagatta, USA Today, 21 Oct. 2025
Continuing, Samson said nations pursuing counterspace capabilities also do so out of concern of being left behind competitors and rivals or at least not being seen as keeping up with others.
—Leonard David, Space.com, 20 Oct. 2025
The Yankees lost in the ALDS to their division rivals, the Toronto Blue Jays, in four games in a sad ending to their season.
—Nelson Espinal, MSNBC Newsweek, 15 Oct. 2025
Whether the return of the 20 living hostages on Monday will be enough to win back public support or prompt Netanyahu’s political rivals to agree to drop the 2019 charges remains unclear.
—Caitlin McFall, FOXNews.com, 13 Oct. 2025
Pol Ballús, New York Times, 16 Oct. 2025
And for those seeking more revelry than chills, the island’s 10-day Fantasy Fest transforms the southernmost city into a party that even rivals Mardi Gras.
—Jacqueline Dole, Travel + Leisure, 6 Oct. 2025
Throughout the show, the audience rivals their headliner for best vocal delivery of the night.
—Larisha Paul, Rolling Stone, 4 Oct. 2025
That same test now awaits them again in Western New York next weekend, when the entire league will be watching two old division rivals battle on Sunday Night Football.
—Andrew Callahan, Boston Herald, 29 Sep. 2025
Wilson will play a pro golfer who rivals Lonnie, having beaten him for the tour championship twice.
—Rosy Cordero, Deadline, 26 Sep. 2025
Atlanta’s 30-0 loss at Carolina last week rivals Miami’s season opener in Indy for worst performance by any team thus far, but that will have Falcons in major bounce back mode at home.
—Miami Herald, 25 Sep. 2025
League rivals McClatchy and West Park will meet again in Roseville on Oct 14.
—Sacbee.com, 25 Sep. 2025
The salt marshes and estuaries are a magnet for migratory birds, whose colorful plumage rivals the blaze of bold leaves.
—Allison Tibaldi, USA Today, 20 Sep. 2025
Noun
Analysts say Nike’s lack of product innovation and absence from wholesalers in recent years allowed those upstart rivals to gain market share.
—Merritt Enright, CNBC, 21 Oct. 2025
The Israeli Premier League match was due to be played at Bloomfield Stadium, which is shared by the two rivals, but videos on social media showed fans clashing with police both inside and outside the area.
—Amy Woodyatt, CNN Money, 21 Oct. 2025
That was followed by a slump when rivals led by Lilly muscled into the market.
—Dave Smith, Fortune, 21 Oct. 2025
Other well-heeled rivals that are said to be taking a long look at WBD’s TV and film portfolio include Comcast and Netflix.
—Anthony Crupi, Sportico.com, 21 Oct. 2025
The move would subject SpaceX to competition from space technology rivals like Blue Origin and Lockheed Martin.
—Eric Lagatta, USA Today, 21 Oct. 2025
Continuing, Samson said nations pursuing counterspace capabilities also do so out of concern of being left behind competitors and rivals or at least not being seen as keeping up with others.
—Leonard David, Space.com, 20 Oct. 2025
The Yankees lost in the ALDS to their division rivals, the Toronto Blue Jays, in four games in a sad ending to their season.
—Nelson Espinal, MSNBC Newsweek, 15 Oct. 2025
Whether the return of the 20 living hostages on Monday will be enough to win back public support or prompt Netanyahu’s political rivals to agree to drop the 2019 charges remains unclear.
—Caitlin McFall, FOXNews.com, 13 Oct. 2025
Verb
Flick’s side are two points behind Madrid at the top of the league and return to action on Saturday with the visit of Catalan rivals Girona to the Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys on Saturday.
—Pol Ballús, New York Times, 16 Oct. 2025
And for those seeking more revelry than chills, the island’s 10-day Fantasy Fest transforms the southernmost city into a party that even rivals Mardi Gras.
—Jacqueline Dole, Travel + Leisure, 6 Oct. 2025
Throughout the show, the audience rivals their headliner for best vocal delivery of the night.
—Larisha Paul, Rolling Stone, 4 Oct. 2025
That same test now awaits them again in Western New York next weekend, when the entire league will be watching two old division rivals battle on Sunday Night Football.
—Andrew Callahan, Boston Herald, 29 Sep. 2025
Wilson will play a pro golfer who rivals Lonnie, having beaten him for the tour championship twice.
—Rosy Cordero, Deadline, 26 Sep. 2025
Atlanta’s 30-0 loss at Carolina last week rivals Miami’s season opener in Indy for worst performance by any team thus far, but that will have Falcons in major bounce back mode at home.
—Miami Herald, 25 Sep. 2025
League rivals McClatchy and West Park will meet again in Roseville on Oct 14.
—Sacbee.com, 25 Sep. 2025
The salt marshes and estuaries are a magnet for migratory birds, whose colorful plumage rivals the blaze of bold leaves.
—Allison Tibaldi, USA Today, 20 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for rivals
Noun
-
Traditionally, women have been in charge of households’ purse strings and are responsible for more discretionary spending than their male counterparts.—
Eleanor Pringle,
Fortune,
16 Oct. 2025
-
The University of Texas at Austin took a different tone than its counterparts.—
Taylor Romine,
CNN Money,
16 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
But Hunter is larger than Strus, can man more brute opponents and churned out one of the more versatile shooting seasons of 2024-25.—
Fred Katz,
New York Times,
16 Oct. 2025
-
In leaked Telegram messages first reported by Politico, Young Republicans leaders privately made racist and otherwise offensive jokes about their political opponents.—
David Zimmermann,
The Washington Examiner,
15 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
Despite the advances in AI, Duan concedes that early domestic CAE software lagged behind foreign competitors in several areas.—
Ni Tao,
Interesting Engineering,
21 Oct. 2025
-
Kahn is optimistic that Coach’s focus on a smaller number of affordable, yet consistent products puts it in a better place to manage cost and price increases than its competitors.—
Nicholas Gordon,
Fortune,
21 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
The tech giant competes heavily on AI services with Apple, Google and startups like Anthropic and OpenAI.—
Eleanor Pringle,
Fortune,
16 Oct. 2025
-
In recent years, Oracle has expanded its cloud infrastructure division that competes with the likes of Amazon and Google.—
Jordan Novet,
CNBC,
16 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
Using employees – the number of people – rather than full-time equivalents makes these numbers difficult to compare directly with EPA’s budget proposals.—
Chris Sellers,
The Conversation,
29 Sep. 2025
-
Lucid also promotes the vehicle with city and freeway MPGe equivalents of 114 and 109.—
James Raia,
Mercury News,
21 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
Children’s Health Defense, the organization Kennedy built into one of the fiercest foes of childhood vaccines, took interest in the Idaho bill early on.—
Audrey Dutton,
ProPublica,
20 Oct. 2025
-
The complexity of the mechanics becomes a little more apparent as tougher foes begin blocking and parrying more astutely, forcing the player’s hand to put in a little more effort in their decision making.—
Christopher Cruz,
Rolling Stone,
20 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
My model will need to see something more impressive before believing in them as contenders.—
Austin Mock,
New York Times,
16 Oct. 2025
-
Thanks to a scheduling quirk, the Spartans don’t face Boise State or UNLV – two of the conference’s top title contenders – this season.—
Aaron Johnson,
Mercury News,
16 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
As the science races forward, the number of type 1 diabetes cases is surging.—
Jeanna Bryner,
Scientific American,
14 Oct. 2025
-
Add PCMag as a preferred source on Google As SpaceX races to dominate satellite-to-phone services, Verizon is doubling down on rival AST SpaceMobile instead.—
Senior Reporter,
PC Magazine,
8 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Rivals.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/rivals. Accessed 22 Oct. 2025.
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