rivalrous

adjective

ri·​val·​rous ˈrī-vəl-rəs How to pronounce rivalrous (audio)
: given to rivalry : competitive

Examples of rivalrous in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
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The sisters were long involved in a rivalrous feud. Lydia Price, People.com, 2 Mar. 2025 In Trump’s first term, that insight helped the United States begin a messy adjustment to the realities of a rivalrous age. Hal Brands, Foreign Affairs, 25 Feb. 2025 Ricardo divided society into three rivalrous classes—landlords, capitalists, and workers—and showed how the landlords were able to take the lion’s share of the economic surplus by virtue of owning, and charging rent on, a scarce and valuable resource: land. John Cassidy, The New Yorker, 2 Nov. 2024 Instead, Civil War focuses intently on the knotty dynamic (sometimes familial, sometimes patently rivalrous) between Jessie and Lee—an ambitious, possibly opportunistic up-and-comer and the haunted professional who’s seen it all—and the role of journalists in a society on the brink of collapse. Elaina Patton, Vogue, 12 Apr. 2024 See All Example Sentences for rivalrous

Word History

First Known Use

1812, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of rivalrous was in 1812

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Cite this Entry

“Rivalrous.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/rivalrous. Accessed 13 Mar. 2025.

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