competitor
Americannoun
noun
Related Words
See opponent.
Other Word Forms
- competitorship noun
Etymology
Origin of competitor
First recorded in 1525–35; from Latin competītor “rival for an office,” equivalent to com- com- + petītor “seeker, claimant” ( petitor )
Explanation
Competitors are rivals or contenders for the same thing. Two boxers in a ring are competitors, and so are restaurants located on the same block. When people compete (in sports, business, or elsewhere), they're trying to achieve the same goal and are therefore considered competitors. Two teams in the same sports division are competitors. Two politicians running for the same office are competitors. And even two guys courting the same gal are considered competitors. Competitors are out to win.
Vocabulary lists containing competitor
Vocabulary of the Summer Olympics
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Chapter 11: Industry and Immigration, Lessons 1–3
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List, Group, Label pre-reading exercise
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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.
To call West a fierce competitor is like calling Margot Robbie vaguely attractive.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 14, 2026
OpenAI has been trying to build up its Claude Code competitor, Codex, and sees a window of opportunity in Anthropic’s quandary.
From Slate • Apr. 14, 2026
But Congress has backed the date with billions of dollars of taxpayers' money, partly because there is a new competitor on the horizon.
From BBC • Apr. 10, 2026
Brown-Forman separately has been in talks with Pernod Ricard, another competitor, about a possible merger.
From Barron's • Apr. 9, 2026
He had handled the Columbia account for twenty years and didn’t like the idea of losing even a small part of the business to a competitor.
From "The Tipping Point" by Malcolm Gladwell
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.
