- involving or determined by rivalry: competitive sports
- sufficiently low in price or high in quality to be successful against commercial rivals
- relating to or characterized by an urge to compete: a competitive personality
WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026
com•pet•i•tive /kəmˈpɛtɪtɪv/USA pronunciation
adj. overly interested in competing.
having the ability to compete;
able to match or exceed one's competitors:Our prices are competitive, especially when compared with those of the leading manufacturer.
com•pet•i•tive•ly, adv.: We played competitively in the games.
com•pet•i•tive•ness, n. [uncountable]
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026- of or relating to competition:competitive sports.
able to match or exceed one's competitors:Our prices are competitive, especially when compared with those of the leading manufacturer.
com•pet•i•tive•ness, n. [uncountable]
com•pet•i•tive
(kəm pet′i tiv),USA pronunciation adj.
com•pet′i•tive•ly, adv.
com•pet′i•tive•ness, n.
- of, pertaining to, involving, or decided by competition:competitive sports; a competitive examination.
- well suited for competition;
having a feature that makes for successful competition:a competitive price. - having a strong desire to compete or to succeed.
- useful to a competitor;
giving a competitor an advantage:He was careful not to divulge competitive information about his invention.
- Latin competīt(us) (past participle of competere; see competition) + -ive
- 1820–30
com•pet′i•tive•ness, n.
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
competitive /kəmˈpɛtɪtɪv/ adj
'competitive' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
auction
- camp-drafting
- capitalism
- darts
- down and dirty
- downhill
- emulous
- fast lane
- Grand Prix
- handicap
- head start
- javelin
- keen
- level playing field
- matchmaker
- potlatch
- rat race
- round robin
- running
- score
- socialism
- speed
- sport
- start
- touch
- action grant
- aggressive
- agrégé
- alpine
- alpinist
- backstroker
- balance beam
- canoe slalom
- civil service
- competitory
- corrival
- county fair
- dog show
- driven
- exhibition
- fair
- fast track
- figure skating
- flight shooting
- flyweight
- free enterprise
- game
- gymnastics
- heavyweight
- horse show