Rival Meaning
/ˈɹaɪvəl/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounA competitor (person, team, company, etc.) with the same goal as another, or striving to attain the same thing. Defeating a rival may be a primary or necessary goal of a competitor.
nounSomeone or something with similar claims of quality or distinction as another.
Sentence Examples
We had been rival lovers at one time.
Our team competed with a powerful rival.
There are rival factions within the administration.
CEFR Practice Quiz
In the final match, the two ____ teams fought hard to win the championship.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The two companies had been fierce ____ for decades, competing for the same customers in every market.
Word Origin & History
Learned borrowing from Latin rīvālis (literally “person using the same stream as another”). By surface analysis, Latin rīvus + -al.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Every day is like survival / You're my lover, not my rival"
— 1983, “Karma Chameleon”, in Colour by Numbers, performed by Culture Club:
"The dirty secret of the internet is that all this distraction and interruption is immensely profitable. Web companies like to boast about […], or offering services that let you[…] "share the things you love with the world" and so on. But the real way to build a successful online business is to be better than your rivals at undermining people's control of their own attention."
— 2013 June 21, Oliver Burkeman, “The tao of tech”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 2, page 27:
"If you do meet Horatio and Marcellus, / The rivals of my watch, bid them make haste."
— c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i]:
"The strenuous conflicts and alternate victories of two rival confederacies of statesmen."
— 1849–1861, Thomas Babington Macaulay, chapter I, in The History of England from the Accession of James the Second, volume (please specify |volume=I to V), London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, →OCLC:
"Japan’s largest yakuza crime syndicate has pledged to end its longstanding war with a rival faction and refrain from causing “trouble,” authorities said, as the mafia-like groups contend with falling membership and increased police crackdowns."
— 2025 April 11, Junko Ogura, Helen Regan, “Japan’s biggest Yakuza crime group pledges to end decade-long gang war”, in CNN, archived from the original on 09 May 2025:
Explore More C1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
In the final match, the two ____ teams fought hard to win the championship.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The two companies had been fierce ____ for decades, competing for the same customers in every market.