rivalrousadj.
/ˈrʌɪvlrəs/, U.S. /ˈraɪvəlrəs/ 1. Of an action, situation, etc.: characterized by rivalry.
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > dissent > competition or rivalry > [adjective]
enviousa1300
emulate1604
emulatory1615
emulous1693
competitory1742
emulative1747
rivalrous1812
competitive1829
agonal1896
1812 W. Taylor in Monthly Mag. 34 415 These would tend to independency, to rivalrous competition.
1853 G. J. Cayley Las Alforjas II. 45 Celebrated..for their rivalrous animosity in lecture-room.
1943 Amer. Sociol. Rev. 8 283/2 Some relationship between the father's ‘migraine’ headaches and the rivalrous situation in which he was involved.
1976 S. Walrond-Skinner Family Therapy viii. 120 Rivalrous competition binds and controls the team's spontaneity.
1997 Times 3 July 23/3 Aniston's supposedly rivalrous relationship with Courtney Cox..is the subject of malign gossip.
2. Of a person, group, etc.: given to rivalry; competitive.
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > dissent > competition or rivalry > [adjective] > competing
rival1592
emulative1593
emulating1610
corrivinga1618
emulous1617
corrival1646
comparative1654
rivalling1668
contesting1697
rivalrous1831
co-rival1832
competing1862
1831 London Jrnl. Arts & Sci. 6 312 The watchful observation of rivalrous and jealous eyes.
1869 Lippincott's Monthly Mag. Sept. 287/2 The whites are ever discontented, rivalrous, emulative, rapacious, [etc.].
1902 Final Rep. Industr. Comm. XIX. 103 The increase of population which rivalrous railroads and steamship companies brought about.
1963 Observer 21 Apr. 29/4 In the three- to six-year-old stage boys become rivalrous with their fathers, girls with their mothers.
2007 Guardian 10 Nov. (Review section) 6/2 ‘Ancient Greece’ was in fact a constellation of hundreds of rivalrous micro-states.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2010; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.1812