competitive

American  

[kuhm-pet-i-tiv] / kəmˈpɛt ɪ tɪv /

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.

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competitive British  

/ 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

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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”; see compete) + -ive

Explanation

If you're competitive, you want to be the best. No one likes to lose, but if you are a competitive person, it will be especially disappointing to see someone else win. People who are competitive like to compete — to find out who knows the most, runs the fastest, can eat the most hot dogs, and so on. Some people are competitive about everything. You'll know them by their constant comparing themselves to others and trying to find out what others have and do — in order to be sure they are still "ahead." Competitive can describe any contest, like a competitive sandcastle-building event.

Example Sentences

The analyst also points to rising competitive pressure, with one rival now selling sonar systems independently and customers questioning the “cost of synthetic aperture sonar relative to the rapidly falling costs of autonomous vessels.”

From The Wall Street Journal • May 29, 2026

At competitive meets, Esiobu said, “we have been winning with little or nothing.”

From Los Angeles Times • May 29, 2026

"I had to stay over-positive, over-determined, always ready to try to find a solution to keep being competitive and find a way to be on court again," he said.

From BBC • May 29, 2026

The deal with Anthropic has fueled questions about xAI's competitive standing.

From Barron's • May 28, 2026

I loved swimming too, but it wasn’t the kind of team sport I wanted to play and I wasn’t fast enough to be competitive.

From "Ugly" by Robert Hoge

Related Words

• aggressive
• ambitious
• competing
• cutthroat
• vying