vie

American  

[vahy] / vaɪ /

verb (used without object)

• vies,
  present (3rd person singular)
• vied,
  past participle,  past
• vying
  present participle

1. to strive in competition or rivalry with another; contend for superiority.

   Swimmers from many nations were vying for the title.

   Synonyms:

   struggle, contest, compete

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verb (used with object)

• vies,
  present (3rd person singular)
• vied,
  past participle,  past
• vying
  present participle

1. Archaic. to put forward in competition or rivalry.

2. Obsolete. to stake in card playing.

vie British  

/ vaɪ /

verb

1. (intr; foll by with or for) to contend for superiority or victory (with) or strive in competition (for)

2. archaic (tr) to offer, exchange, or display in rivalry

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• vier
  noun
• outvie
  verb (used with object)
• vying
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Participles

• vying
  present
• vied
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• vie
  simple
• vies
  simple
• have vied
  perfect
• has vied
  perfect
• am vying
  progressive
• are vying
  progressive
• is vying
  progressive
• have been vying
  perfect progressive
• has been vying
  perfect progressive

Past

• vied
  simple
• had vied
  perfect
• was vying
  progressive
• were vying
  progressive
• had been vying
  perfect progressive

Future

• will vie
  simple
• will have vied
  perfect
• will be vying
  progressive
• will have been vying
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of vie

First recorded in 1525–35; by shortening of Middle French envier “to raise the stake (at cards),” Old French: “to challenge, provoke,” from Latin invītāre “to entertain, treat, invite”

Explanation

To vie for something means to compete for it. Two teams may vie for the gold medal, but one will have to go home with silver. Vie may be spelled the same as the French word, vie, but they are pronounced differently, vī and vē respectively, and are not related in meaning or history. English vie comes from the Latin verb meaning "to invite" as in to invite a challenge. Be careful of the spelling which includes an ie to y shift. “He intends to vie for the top prize,” but “He is vying for the top prize.”

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

vie vies vied vying

Now, Portland is experiencing a rarely seen housing competition, where higher-end apartments vie for some of the same tenants as income-restricted units.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 25, 2026

Multiple applicants now vie for open board seats.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 19, 2026

The polls have opened in Clacton-on-Sea as a record number of candidates vie to become the town's next MP.

From BBC ● Aug. 13, 2026

Private hospitals without trauma centers, such as MLK hospital, are left to vie for a cut of a pool of any “leftover” funds that exceed the amount the county projected raising via the measure.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 3, 2026

Une belle vie, as she always promises, hoping that here she would be free to take her sister’s hand and touch the moon.

From "American Street" by Ibi Zoboi

The India investment is part of Microsoft's $23bn AI expansion across countries including Canada, Portugal and the UAE, as the company vies with rivals such as Amazon and Google.

From BBC ● Dec. 10, 2025

Animation vies with anomie; the human stick figures, casting no shadows, are dwarfed by bleak urban realities.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 31, 2025

Investors appear to be catching on to the pattern of escalation, followed immediately by de-escalation, as each side vies for maximum leverage.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 14, 2025

SpaceX's massive Starship rocket soared into its 11th test flight Monday, as the US company vies to ready its aerospace technology to deliver NASA's lunar projects and fulfill Elon Musk's Mars ambitions.

From Barron's ● Oct. 13, 2025

Memory is the chief faculty to be cultivated, and each child vies with the others to make the most noise in study.

From History of Education by Levi Seeley

In diligent, exhausted Japan, self-described elite "competitive sleepers" vied to lie down, relax and nap the fastest and deepest in a contest organised by a mattress company.

From Barron's ● Oct. 6, 2026

Addressing reporters on Monday, she declared that "nearly a million young people" had vied for one of the coveted 150,000 tickets to BTS's Mexican gigs.

From Barron's ● Jan. 26, 2026

According to Tokyo's metropolitan government, some 108,000 people vied to get one of the 4,400 slots available for one last look at the zoo's beloved pandas.

From BBC ● Jan. 25, 2026

Many clients who spoke to The Times said that among the partners, Yaghoubtil in particular vied hard to get their business.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 31, 2025

There was much pushing and shoving as the meerkats behind vied to reach the pond’s edge.

From "Life of Pi" by Yann Martel

Five candidates are vying for Seat 2 on the board of trustees for the Los Angeles Community College District, where they will oversee some 200,000 students and an annual budget around $10 billion.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2026

Ericka at first takes only a nominally enthusiastic attitude toward vying for the crown, and she’s not particularly antipathetic to Paulina either—at least until she witnesses Paulina’s cruel and domineering behavior toward her fellow students.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 30, 2026

Wedge regulars constantly joke about getting shish-kabobed on submerged hazards while vying for waves.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 22, 2026

"We're relying on the tweets of a half-dozen people who are all vying for perceived supremacy," he said.

From BBC ● Sep. 15, 2026

In the 1700s, France, England, Austria, Prussia, Spain, the Netherlands, and other countries were vying for power.

From "Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea" by Charles Seife

Related Words

• contend
• strive