rivalrous
Americanadjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of rivalrous
Explanation
Someone who's rivalrous is very competitive. It's always exciting for fans when two rivalrous teams meet up for an important match. If you're rivalrous, you're eager to win, whether you're a rivalrous chess player or a rivalrous entrant in a baking competition. A pair of rivalrous siblings is in constant competition with each other, and a rivalrous presidential contest is particularly heated and cutthroat. Rivalrous is from the noun rivalry, from the sixteenth century rival, which has a Latin root: rivalis, "rival or adversary in love."
Vocabulary lists containing rivalrous
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.
He became a life-long friend of the future Carry On star, though Williams's published diaries reveal their relationship constantly veered between the confessional, supportive and rivalrous.
From BBC • Dec. 12, 2025
Constricted pupils and licking lips also tend to accompany such rivalrous encounters.
From Science Magazine • Oct. 25, 2023
Nagourney analogizes two abrasive and rivalrous figures, Howell Raines and Jill Abramson.
From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 27, 2023
Her most recent, “Give Me Your Hand,” concerned rivalrous female scientists studying an extreme form of PMS.
From New York Times • Jul. 16, 2021
These agencies and half-hidden powers were fiercely rivalrous.
From "The Book of Dust: La Belle Sauvage" by Philip Pullman
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.
