competitive
Americanadjective
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of, pertaining to, involving, or decided by competition.
competitive sports; a competitive examination.
-
well suited for competition; having a feature that makes for successful competition.
a competitive price.
-
having a strong desire to compete or to succeed.
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useful to a competitor; giving a competitor an advantage.
He was careful not to divulge competitive information about his invention.
adjective
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involving or determined by rivalry
competitive sports
-
sufficiently low in price or high in quality to be successful against commercial rivals
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relating to or characterized by an urge to compete
a competitive personality
Usage
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.
Other Word Forms
- anticompetitive adjective
- anticompetitively adverb
- anticompetitiveness noun
- competitively adverb
- competitiveness 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
Etymology
Origin of competitive
First recorded in 1820–30; from Latin competīt(us) (past participle of competere “to meet, coincide”; compete ) + -ive
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The market will continually assess the industry’s future and will ultimately find those areas that are immune to the competitive threat.
From Barron's
Dane spent his high school years as a competitive swimmer and water polo player.
From Salon
She was also aware that the highly competitive daytime talk show arena had been a notorious minefield for several top stars, leading to quick failure.
From Los Angeles Times
“We continue to hold a favorable view of Carvana’s growth trajectory and competitive position,” they write.
A former competitive swimmer and water polo player, he said ALS — also known as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or Lou Gehrig’s disease — initially caused the right side of his body to stop working.
From Los Angeles Times
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
