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rivals 1 of 2

plural of rival
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

Relevance
2
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

rivals

2 of 2

verb

present tense third-person singular of rival
as in competes
to engage in a contest two longtime friends who have rivaled for the same things at every stage of their lives

Synonyms & Similar Words

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of rivals
Noun
Sea’s operating expenses also jumped by 28%, as its e-commerce arm Shopee tries to strengthen its competitive edge of rivals like Alibaba’s Lazada and ByteDance’s TikTok Shop. Angelica Ang, Fortune, 12 Nov. 2025 American pasta makers regularly complain that their Italian rivals are underpricing their goods. Prashant Rao, semafor.com, 11 Nov. 2025 In the early days of his Administration, his would-be appointments are stalled by political rivals, and his days are packed with unproductive meetings with members of the public. Inkoo Kang, New Yorker, 11 Nov. 2025 Honda produces fewer hybrid vehicles than some rivals for North America. Charles Singh, Nashville Tennessean, 11 Nov. 2025 In the process, the land is torn apart by fierce rivals, shifting loyalties, and bloody betrayals. Matt Grobar, Deadline, 11 Nov. 2025 What are my rivals doing with gen AI? Harvard Business Review, 5 Nov. 2025 In its home market, pizza fatigue after pandemic lockdowns have led to slumping sales, and rivals like Domino’s Pizza have taken share from Pizza Hut. Amelia Lucas, CNBC, 4 Nov. 2025 New York City traditionally leans Democratic, and polls suggest Mamdani holds a lead over his rivals. Lydia Patrick, MSNBC Newsweek, 4 Nov. 2025
Verb
According to recent data, Waymo’s market share now rivals that of Lyft. Elisabeth Garber-Paul, Rolling Stone, 5 Nov. 2025 Chief rivals McDonald’s and Burger King also reported sluggish sales earlier this year as consumers cut back spending. Jordan Valinsky, CNN Money, 31 Oct. 2025 The Rams get three straight weeks against contenders in NFC West rivals San Francisco and Seattle before hosting Tampa Bay. Scott Phillips, New York Times, 28 Oct. 2025 Elsewhere, the graceful lines and vivid colors with which the macroscope Earth, by Cameron Beccario, visualizes global weather patterns give it a beauty that rivals your favorite Impressionist painting. Big Think, 27 Oct. 2025 According to the institute, this performance rivals traditional computing clusters powered by multiple high-end GPUs. Atharva Gosavi, Interesting Engineering, 27 Oct. 2025 The film's twist is one of those watercooler moments that rivals any horror movie ending. Steven Thrash, Entertainment Weekly, 25 Oct. 2025 This feature directly rivals technologies like Nvidia’s Deep Learning Supersampling (DLSS) and AMD’s FidelityFX Super Resolution (FSR). PC Magazine, 21 Oct. 2025 Meanwhile, new energy shines through with international flavors at places such as Salt City Market, along with a buzzy bar culture that arguably rivals those of much larger cities. Lauren Dana Ellman, Travel + Leisure, 19 Oct. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for rivals
Noun
  • Experts say many multinational firms are adopting dual leadership models, where global business unit heads in India co-own strategy and product outcomes with their counterparts at headquarters.
    Priyanka Salve, CNBC, 6 Nov. 2025
  • Specifically, supernovae derived from younger stellar populations appear fainter, while their older counterparts appear brighter.
    Ian Randall, MSNBC Newsweek, 6 Nov. 2025
Noun
  • In New York City, State Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani won the mayoral race against high-profile opponents.
    Deputy News Editor, MSNBC Newsweek, 6 Nov. 2025
  • A number of billionaires collectively spent more than $22 million to back Mamdani’s opponents, according to Forbes.
    Nino Paoli, Fortune, 6 Nov. 2025
Noun
  • Axel Springer laid off 20% of its staff at Business Insider, and has instituted strict spending limits at Politico that have left employees grumbling about the outlet’s inability to match some of the salaries of its competitors.
    Max Tani, semafor.com, 10 Nov. 2025
  • There will be some minor differences between ProphetX and prediction market competitors.
    Dan Bernstein, Sportico.com, 10 Nov. 2025
Verb
  • Cherry’s older brother, Taeshon, played collegiately and competes professionally overseas.
    Joe Davidson, Sacbee.com, 8 Nov. 2025
  • Sook also argued broadcast stations will continue to dominate political advertising sales, but faces stepped up competition from streaming services, where Nexstar competes with its NewsNation live TV streamer.
    Etan Vlessing, HollywoodReporter, 6 Nov. 2025
Noun
  • Today's reality is that large hybrid models get just a few more miles per gallon than gas equivalents (in most cases).
    Charles Singh, Nashville Tennessean, 11 Nov. 2025
  • By 1974, though, many women had already discarded those notions as instruments of domination, psychic equivalents of the whalebone corset.
    James Marcus, New Yorker, 3 Nov. 2025
Noun
  • Defeating Lebanon’s Hezbollah, including killing Nasrallah, and bombing Iran’s facilities in June (with Trump sending American warplanes to assist) were widely seen by Israelis as historic victories over the country’s most threatening foes.
    Aluf Benn, Foreign Affairs, 10 Nov. 2025
  • Start the man who has thrown more touchdowns against the Dolphins than his other AFC East foes combined.
    Miami Herald, Miami Herald, 8 Nov. 2025
Noun
  • Instead, this team bullied one of the top NFC playoff contenders from start to finish.
    Tyler Everett, MSNBC Newsweek, 6 Nov. 2025
  • Performers like Olivia Dean and PinkPantheress have pretty much provided the soundtrack for TikTok this past year, and are being viewed as strong contenders in that category, along with Ravyn Lenae and Megan Moroney.
    Lisa Respers France, CNN Money, 6 Nov. 2025
Verb
  • Youngkin’s comments come after Democrats swept last night’s statewide and House of Delegates races in Virginia.
    Julia Manchester, The Hill, 5 Nov. 2025
  • Detroit City Council races Along with a heated mayor's race, there are two open districts seats and two at-large seats up for grabs on the Detroit City Council.
    Detroit Free Press, Freep.com, 3 Nov. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Rivals.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/rivals. Accessed 2 Dec. 2025.

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