Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

rival

/ˈɹaɪvəl/

Word Rarity Uncommon

Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.18 in modern English

Syllables: ri-val
IPA: /ˈɹaɪvəl/

8

Scrabble Score

5

Letters

2

Syllables

5

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A 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.

noun

Someone or something with similar claims of quality or distinction as another.

noun

One having a common right or privilege with another; a partner.

Obsolete

adj

Having the same pretensions or claims; standing in competition for superiority.

verb

To oppose or compete with.

Transitive verb

verb

To be equal to, or match, or to surpass another.

verb

To strive to equal or excel; to emulate.

Example Sentences

"Chris is my biggest rival in the 400-metre race."
"Every day is like survival / You're my lover, not my rival"
"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."
"As a social historian, he has no rival."
"If you do meet Horatio and Marcellus, / The rivals of my watch, bid them make haste."
"rival lovers"

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin rīvālis (literally “person using the same stream as another”). By surface analysis, Latin rīvus + -al.

Usage

Inflected Forms

rivals (plural) rivals (present, singular) rivaling (US, participle) rivalling (UK, participle) rivaled (US, participle) rivaled (US, past) rivalled (UK, participle) rivalled (UK, past)

Derived Forms

archrival corival nonrival rivaless rivalise rivalism rivality rivalization rivalize rivalless rivalmance rivalry

Phrases

arch-rival

Frequently Paired Words

rivulet

Synonyms

challenger competitor competition contender equal touch match

Rhymes With

arrival survival revival archival arch-rival gingival adjectival archrival conjunctival perspectival estival subconjunctival

Questions

How do you pronounce rival?: The recorded pronunciation is /ˈɹaɪvəl/.
What does rival mean?: A 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.
Where does rival come from?: Learned borrowing from Latin rīvālis (literally “person using the same stream as another”). By surface analysis, Latin rīvus + -al.

How to pronounce rival

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “rival”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ˈɹaɪvəl/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “rival”.
Repeat and practice — Say “rival” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.