rival

American  

[rahy-vuhl] / ˈraɪ vəl /

noun

1. a person who is competing for the same object or goal as another, or who tries to equal or outdo another; competitor.

   Synonyms:

   antagonist, adversary, emulator, opponent

   Antonyms:

   ally

2. a person or thing that is in a position to dispute another's preeminence or superiority.

   a stadium without a rival.

3. Obsolete. a companion in duty.

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adjective

1. competing or standing in rivalry: rival businesses.

   rival suitors;

   rival businesses.

   Synonyms:

   opposed, competitive

verb (used with object)

rivaled, rivaling, rivalled, rivalling

1. to compete with in rivalry; strive to win from, equal, or outdo.

   Synonyms:

   oppose

2. to prove to be a worthy rival of.

   He soon rivaled the others in skill.

3. to equal (something) as if in carrying on a rivalry.

   The Hudson rivals any European river in beauty.

   Synonyms:

   emulate, match

verb (used without object)

rivaled, rivaling, rivalled, rivalling

1. to engage in rivalry; compete.

rival British  

/ ˈraɪvəl /

noun

1. 1. a person, organization, team, etc, that competes with another for the same object or in the same field

   2. ( as modifier )

      rival suitors

      a rival company

2. a person or thing that is considered the equal of another or others

   she is without rival in the field of economics

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verb

1. to be the equal or near equal of

   an empire that rivalled Rome

2. to try to equal or surpass; compete with in rivalry

Related Words

See opponent.

Other Word Forms

• nonrival
  noun
• outrival
  verb (used with object)
• rivalless
  adjective
• unrivaling
  adjective
• unrivalling
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of rival

First recorded in 1570–80; from Latin rīvālis, originally, “one who uses a stream in common with another,” equivalent to rīv(us) “stream” + -ālis -al ¹

Explanation

A rival is a competitor or contender that you want to defeat, whether in an actual competition or for another goal. It may be a tennis rival or a rival for your true love’s affections. There are all types of rivals, but they tend to show up a lot in sports. For example, in college football, the Army and Navy have been rivals since their first meeting in 1890. Something that is able to rival something else is seen as comparable to it in quality, and something that is said to be “without rival” is unmatched, or better than everything else.

Example Sentences

Rival Roche has already announced it is building an even bigger supercomputer in partnership with Nvidia.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 2, 2026

Next is competition — Rival food companies quickly rolled out their own plant-based fares to try to ride Beyond Meat’s coattails.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 12, 2026

What’s Next: Rival Chinese EV maker NIO unveiled plans for its new vehicle, the ES9 SUV, which will replace its smaller ES8 SUV.

From Barron's • Apr. 10, 2026

Rival U.S. firms are sharing information to detect so-called adversarial distillation attempts that violate their terms of service.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 10, 2026

Rival trainers who claimed horses from Irwin sometimes found them so exhausted that they had to give them long layoffs before they were capable of running again.

From "Seabiscuit: An American Legend" by Laura Hillenbrand

Related Words

• adversary
• challenger
• competition
• competitor
• contender
• opponent
• peer