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.
Synonyms
Examples of rival in a Sentence
Bryan Alexander, USA TODAY, 12 Apr. 2024
German industry got rich, thanks partly to its close energy trading relationship with political and economic rival Russia.
—Ryan Hogg, Fortune Europe, 11 Apr. 2024
His closest fund-raising rival, Margaret Franklin, a Prince William County supervisor, raised $122,894.
—Jonathan Weisman, New York Times, 11 Apr. 2024
Jack Eichel, one of the most prominent former players from BC’s fiercest rival, Boston University, supposedly thought Smith deserved to win the Hobey Baker Memorial Award as college hockey’s top men’s player – ahead of Terriers center Macklin Celebrini.
—Curtis Pashelka, The Mercury News, 11 Apr. 2024
Most famously, Simpson scored a 64-yard touchdown to help USC win a crucial game against their big rivals UCLA during the 1967 season.
—Daniel Kreps, Rolling Stone, 11 Apr. 2024
At the time of the deal, 99 Cents Only had the second-highest profit margin and the most sales per square foot among its rivals, Bloomberg reported.
—Nathaniel Meyersohn, CNN, 11 Apr. 2024
As the hypercompetitive race to enable AI heats up, Google’s rivals likely don’t share that vision.
—Marco Quiroz-Gutierrez, Fortune, 9 Apr. 2024
For a star of his stature, there are no two better destinations for this switch than the eternal enemies that contest El Clasico, with Madrid looking likely to land Haaland's generational rival Kylian Mbappe this summer.
—Tom Sanderson, Forbes, 30 Mar. 2024
Edward Ludlow, Fortune, 12 Apr. 2024
The gang leader pledged to bring quiet to the country’s prisons and provide information to help dismantle rival gangsin exchange for government promises to protect the lives of Los Lobos figures and improve education access and work opportunities in the prisons.
—Samantha Schmidt, Washington Post, 12 Apr. 2024
Coachella Music and Arts Festival is returning to the desert for back-to-back weekends on April 12-14 and April 19-21 with a stacked lineup of musical acts that rival years past.
—Skyler Caruso, Peoplemag, 12 Apr. 2024
Murray Auchincloss at rival BP, another oil behemoth, made a similar figure after taking over as CEO in September.
—Prarthana Prakash, Fortune Europe, 12 Apr. 2024
But a far more challenging rival approach comes from another coalition member, Third Way, a center-right party containing socially conservative lawmakers.
—Rob Picheta, CNN, 11 Apr. 2024
Prosecutors said Arnold, who was on parole at that time, encountered two rival gang members during a meeting at a parole office in Detroit.
—Christina Hall, Detroit Free Press, 11 Apr. 2024
But the modern city, which has a population of about 90,000, has received negative media coverage in the past few years due to an ongoing territorial war by rival drug gangs.
—The Arizona Republic, 11 Apr. 2024
Whether a rival bid will materialize again — and whether Biden’s administration will, or can, ultimately block the Nippon Steel purchase — remains unclear.
—Josh Wingrove, Bloomberg.com, 1 Apr. 2024
Andres Viglucci, Miami Herald, 14 Apr. 2024
The Legion, who haven’t lost a home match in two seasons at Snapdragon, have won four straight after an opening loss to rival Seattle and appear to be finding a groove while blending in a host of new additions with key returnees from last season’s 15-0-1 regular season finishing squad.
—Ivan Carter, San Diego Union-Tribune, 13 Apr. 2024
The mighty strawberry could be hailed the latest super fruit with its natural antioxidant and vitamin C benefits rivaling the goodness of oranges.
—Alessandra Signorelli, Vogue, 12 Apr. 2024
In an outcome that rivaled 1948 for shock value, Trump defeated Hillary Clinton in 2016, due in part to late-campaign preference shifts that polls mostly failed to detect in such key states as Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.
—W. Joseph Campbell, Fortune, 5 Apr. 2024
For now, the star power won’t come close to rivaling Clark or Reese.
—Dan Woike, Los Angeles Times, 5 Apr. 2024
Over the past years, cannabis reform has swept through the nation, and CBD has begun to rival THC as the cannabinoid of choice.
—Alyssa Edwards, Discover Magazine, 3 Apr. 2024
In the early nineteen-seventies, the notoriety of rock managers was starting to rival that of their clients.
—Andrew O’Hagan, The New Yorker, 1 Apr. 2024
This new deal could rival it, as Shockwave currently has a market capitalization of $12 billion.
—Bruce Gil, Quartz, 26 Mar. 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
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
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
Phrases Containing rival
Articles Related to rival
Dictionary Entries Near rival
Cite this Entry
“Rival.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/rival. Accessed 18 Apr. 2024.
Copy Citation
Kids Definition
rival
2 of 3 adjectiverival
3 of 3 verb
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"
More from Merriam-Webster on rival
Nglish: Translation of rival for Spanish Speakers
Britannica English: Translation of rival for Arabic Speakers
Share