competitive

[kuhm-pet-i-tiv]

adjective

1. of, pertaining to, involving, or decided by competition.

   competitive sports; a competitive examination.

2. well suited for competition; having a feature that makes for successful competition.

   a competitive price.

3. having a strong desire to compete or to succeed.

4. useful to a competitor; giving a competitor an advantage.

   He was careful not to divulge competitive information about his invention.

competitive

/ kəmˈpɛtɪtɪv /

adjective

1. involving or determined by rivalry

   competitive sports

2. sufficiently low in price or high in quality to be successful against commercial rivals

3. relating to or characterized by an urge to compete

   a competitive personality

Other Word Forms

• competitively adverb
• competitiveness noun
• anticompetitive adjective
• anticompetitively adverb
• anticompetitiveness noun
• noncompetitive adjective
• noncompetitively adverb
• noncompetitiveness noun
• overcompetitive adjective
• overcompetitively adverb
• overcompetitiveness noun
• pseudocompetitive adjective
• pseudocompetitively adverb
• quasi-competitive adjective
• quasi-competitively adverb
• supercompetitive adjective
• uncompetitive adjective
• uncompetitively adverb
• uncompetitiveness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of competitive¹

First recorded in 1820–30; from Latin competīt(us) (past participle of competere “to meet, coincide”; compete ) + -ive

Example Sentences

The brewer hinted at cheaper pints saying "customers benefit from more competitive pricing" because of the lower tax charge.

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Clubs opposed to the TBA system say the league's competitive balance is sound as it is, and that some clubs are only in favour because it will mean less money is spent on player wages.

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Mayor Karen Bass and a majority of the council believe that the project will create thousands of jobs and boost tourism and business activity, making the city more competitive on the national stage.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Under that scenario, the United States would be ruled by a system of competitive authoritarianism.

Read more on Salon

“Chevron is uniquely positioned to deliver a very competitive project in this space with attractive returns that underscored U.S. energy abundance and positions us to power American AI growth.”

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• aggressive 
• ambitious 
• competing www.thesaurus.com
• cutthroat 
• vying 

When To Use

What does competitive mean?

Competitive is most commonly used to describe a person who has a strong desire to compete and win.Competitive is commonly associated with sports, but it is used in many different contexts that involve competition. It is commonly used to describe someone or something that is able to succeed against or stay even with others in the same contest or setting, as in Our new product will help us stay competitive in this market.Example: Most pro athletes are competitive by nature and always want to win no matter what they’re playing—even if it’s something as simple as a game of cards.