rivalry
Americannoun
-
rivalries
plural
-
the action, position, or relation of a rival or rivals; competition.
rivalry between Yale and Harvard.
- Synonyms:
- jealousy, antagonism, opposition
-
an instance of this.
noun
-
the act of rivalling; competition
-
the state of being a rival or rivals
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of rivalry
Explanation
Rivalry is the act of competing for the same thing against another person. Your rivalry with your older sister is amusing to the family but very annoying to her. Rivalry comes from the noun rival, the person you compete against. Often a rivalry starts when people want the same reward — and their talents are just about equal. Your rivalry for the lead in the play at the local theater isn't between you and George Clooney — it's between you and the other guy who also had a great audition.
Vocabulary lists containing rivalry
The Outsiders
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Olympics Vocabulary for Champions
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Content Summary 5.1: Causes of the Atlantic Revolutions
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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.
See Examples For:
What started as a little friendly rivalry soon turned into a nationwide search for record-breaking crayfish.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 16, 2026
Shakur was a key figure in a hip-hop rivalry pitting the US East Coast against the West Coast.
From Barron's ● Oct. 13, 2026
The 201st meeting of the NFL's oldest current rivalry went emphatically Green Bay's way with Jordan Love showing the importance of a franchise quarterback as the Packers pounded the Chicago Bears 31-7.
From BBC ● Oct. 12, 2026
He was also known for his fiery on-court temper—“You cannot be serious!”—and his rivalry with Swedish player Björn Borg.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 7, 2026
The Seabiscuit and Ligaroti camps had developed a lively, good-natured rivalry; Lin Howard had placed a bank-breaking side bet with his father over which horse would finish ahead of the other.
From "Seabiscuit: An American Legend" by Laura Hillenbrand
Playing Cal and Stanford is also keeping the old California rivalries and traditions alive.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 12, 2026
When done as well as Mr. Riley’s, oral histories provide new revelations about rivalries, hidden strategies and screw ups.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 4, 2026
Theirs is among the most storied and heated rivalries in Corporate America, exacerbated by their proximity and sheer longevity.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 15, 2026
To understand how the case became so mythologised, you have to go back to rivalries that grew larger than the men at its centre.
From BBC ● Aug. 10, 2026
We can swap stories of epic fights and neighborhood rivalries, the best ballers, and the longest-lasting couples.
From "Pride" by Ibi Zoboi
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
