rivalry

UK/ˈɹaɪ.vəl.ɹi/US/ˈɹaɪ.vəl.ɹi/

nounB2+Common in everyday speech and writing · #8,109 of 15,258leans written

Other forms: rivalries

Rivalry is competition between people after the same thing. Sibling rivalry, a fierce rivalry, an old rivalry.

It needs two sides who care, which is what separates a rivalry from mere competition: nobody has a rivalry with somebody they do not think about. Sibling rivalry is the term psychologists use for competition between children in a family.

Definitions of rivalry

1nounrivalryCompetition between people after the same thing.B2+
“There's a fierce rivalry between the two football clubs in the city.”

rivalry is a competition.

Where it comes from

From rival + -ry.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practise this word

rivalry in the wild

Though highly contested on both sides, the rivalry has gone through several periods in which one team dominated for more than a decade.
Florida–Georgia football rivalry
The two teams first played each other in 1900, and the rivalry has been renewed annually since 1929 for a total of 121 games as of 2025.
Red River Rivalry
The rivalry is commonly referred to as the Red River Shootout, the Red River Rivalry, or the Red River Showdown.
Red River Rivalry
The Battle for the Paul Bunyan Trophy is an American college football rivalry between the Michigan Wolverines and the Michigan State Spartans.
Michigan–Michigan State football rivalry
The rivalry is often a heated subject of conversation, especially in the home region of both teams, the Northeastern United States.
Red Sox–Yankees rivalry

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From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

Related words

sibling rivalry

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