How to use rivalry in a sentence

35 example sentences · noun

Rivalry means an ongoing relationship between (usually two) rivals who compete for superiority. Example: “The Boston Bruins have a longstanding rivalry with the Montreal Canadiens.”

Examples of rivalry by meaning

nounAn ongoing relationship between (usually two) rivals who compete for superiority.

The Boston Bruins have a longstanding rivalry with the Montreal Canadiens.
James and Polly have a bitter rivalry due to the latter's inclusion in the Tea Time Teaser.

nounAny competition between two or more things or factors.

Binocular rivalry is a visual phenomenon in which perception alternates between different images presented to each eye.

More sentences with rivalry

Anglo-German naval rivalry was a contributing factor to the First World War.From the entry anglo-
Interservice rivalry is often blamed for problems in the US military.From the entry interservice
In the internecine rivalries of large corporations, whole departments may become expendable in the execution of one executive's power play.From the entry expendable
Despite the intense rivalry between Twihards and Twihaters, the new parody pleases neither group.2010, Cari MacPherson & Steve Rau, "'Vampires Suck' fails to bite", Technician (North Carolina State University), 20 August 2010, page 10. From the entry Twihater
And what the spirit of uncomradeliness begins, finally ends with the jealousy, envy, and rivalry of lovers.1999, Hubert Kennedy, chapter 8, in The Ideal Gay Man: The Story of Der Kreis, The Haworth Press, Inc., page 168. From the entry uncomradeliness
Normally, moreover, the 'presidentiable' must lead the party in both activities in order to minimise rivalry.1995, John Gaffney, Lorna Milne, French Presidentialism and the Election of 1995. From the entry presidentiable
Rivalry and antipathy between Tuckahoe and Cohee began early, and still exists today.1961, Marshall William Fishwick, Gentlemen of Virginia. From the entry Cohee
It is a healer, body-builder and strength-maker beyond rivalry or comparison.1900 February 13, “Secrets Wrested”, in The Hawaiian Star, volume VI, number 2480, Honolulu, Haw., page four, column 2. From the entry body-builder
The merger’s effect on innovation decomposes into a Schumpeterian effect (larger profit base) and an Arrowian effect (lost rivalry).2026, Matias Pietola, Emanuele Tarantino, Hans Zenger, “Mergers, Innovation Efficiencies, and the Investment Channel”, in CEPR Discussion…. From the entry Schumpeterian
The sibling rivalry in the Bible was odee.2023 January 18, @tinaqueen_15, Twitter, archived from the original on 15 Oct 2023. From the entry odee
The EU was established to oppose the unfettered power of nation states and defuse the rivalries between them.2018, Michael Cottakis – LSE, “Colliding worlds: Donald Trump and the European Union”, in LSE's blog. From the entry unfettered
Many stories were told about the Levinson-Mikhoels broyges (rivalry).2016, Paul Goldberg, The Yid: A Novel, →ISBN, page 138. From the entry broyges
"(Wilson) feels like sibling rivalry drives the world and that we are all somehow formed by our siblings," Rosen said.2007, The Hollywood Reporter - Volume 399, page cxvi. From the entry floogy
Rivalry is one thing, but your tirade is childish chickenpoop.1998 April 21, Speerjf, “Marine Corps/Army question”, in alt.folklore.military (Usenet), archived from the original on 03 Jun 2026. From the entry chickenpoop
Another consideration is setting up the program to avoid departmental rivalries and bias by applying objective measures of effectiveness.1995, Time Sharing Institute, Worldex Corporation, Vacation Industry Review: A Publication of the Time Sharing Institute, The Institute…. From the entry mystery guest
Between Paul and Apollos there had arisen distinct rivalry.1924, J[ames] Rendel Harris, “All Things Are Yours”, in As Pants the Hart and Other Devotional Addresses, London: Hodder and Stoughton…. From the entry Pauline
It’s still hard to accept that an abstract geographic rivalry resulted in the murders of the genre’s two biggest stars, but that was what happened.2022, Chuck Klosterman, The Nineties, New York: Penguin Press, →ISBN. From the entry talk into
Though Yangshuo County agencies did not respond to requests for interviews, the park proposal suggests a sense of rivalry with Guilin and the Li River.2015 September 14, Edward Wong, “Bucolic River in Southern China Seeks a Place Among Busier Rivals”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, →OCLC…. From the entry Yangshuo
With Khomeini's death, however, Iran also lost a strong-handed arbitrator, and factional rivalries behind the curtains soon spilled over into the public arena.2013, Rasmus Christian Elling, Minorities in Iran: Nationalism and Ethnicity after Khomeini, →ISBN. From the entry strong-handed
This means that if the rulers lacked the measures to ensure the dikgosana's support, immigration might well have aggravated rivalry for the bogosi.2013, Ørnulf Gulbrandsen, The State And The Social, →ISBN. From the entry dikgosana
Cooley, 87, former partners who reconciled in Texas after a four-decade schism born of their rivalry, apparently decided the grudge was no longer worth sustaining.2007 December 9, Abby Goodnough, “No, We Don't Want to Kiss and Make Up”, in New York Times. From the entry feuder
Joan told friends the other night that her latest book, "Misfortune's Daughters," out in February, is about a rivalry between showbiz sisters.2004 December 24, Lili2, “Feud continues with Jackie and Joan Collins”, in alt.showbiz.gossip (Usenet). From the entry trashterpiece
Rivalries began with the first dispute and continued as long as there were disputes, assuming that the interdispute waiting time was not too long.2000, Manus I. Midlarsky, Handbook of War Studies II - Volume 2, →ISBN, page 232. From the entry interdispute
So different were our appearances and approaches and general gestalts that we had something of an epic rivalry from '74 through '77.1998, David Foster Wallace, A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again, 1st Back Bay edition, Boston: Little, Brown and Co.. From the entry gestalt
"Globalists" tend to view international issues in terms of US-Soviet rivalry, while "regionalists" see them more often as manifestations of local rivalries and problems.1986, Galia Golan, The Soviet Union and the PLO since the War in Lebanon, page 285. From the entry globalist
However, an analysis of the data leads us to a different conclusion: the rivalry between London and Paris is largely a false debate, a “nontroversy”, for three main reasons.2024 November, Guillaume Cerutti, “Paris vs London, a nontroversy”, in The Art Newspaper, number 372, via EBSCOhost, →ISSN, page 45. From the entry nontroversy
In the premiere, “The South,” Hall starts the rivalry by tasking the bakers with creating a Kentucky May Day “piecaken,” with bourbon as the featured flavor.2021 May 2, Miami Herald, volume 118, number 230, page 19T. From the entry piecaken
On the other hand, anti-requisite organizations hinder and prevent the formation of normal relationships and are in fact 'paranoiagenic', that is, they create envy, hostile rivalry, and anxiety.2014, Robert De Board, The Psychoanalysis of Organizations, →ISBN. From the entry antirequisite
The “sportsification” of federal politics has made it so we treat elections like athletic rivalries, vilifying the other team at the expense of doing what's right for the country.2012, Clay A. Johnson, The Information Diet: A Case for Conscious Consumption, →ISBN, page 126. From the entry sportsification
Over the hills is a town called Porangahau, we had a friendly rivalry, which still goes on, between the two hapūs, and Waipawa on the other end.2003, Paul Diamond, A Fire in Your Belly: Māori Leaders Speak, Huia Publishers, →ISBN, page 181. From the entry hapū
Instead, a terrific escalation of corporate rivalries was combined with a deflated power medium and an exceedingly inflated influence medium, particularly in the area of purely technical expertise.1976, Jan J. Loubser, Explorations in General Theory in Social Science, page 602. From the entry deflated
They, of course, would change, but not again could she; henceforth no music for her in the Bush birds' minstrelsy, no pleasure in rivalry with buttercups for the butterflies' kiss.1907, Barbara Baynton, edited by Sally Krimmer and Alan Lawson, Human Toll (Portable Australian Authors: Barbara Baynton), St Lucia…. From the entry minstrelsy

Meaning of rivalry

noun An ongoing relationship between (usually two) rivals who compete for superiority.
noun The characteristic of being a rivalrous good, such that it can be consumed or used by only one person at a time.
noun Any competition between two or more things or factors.

Full definition of rivalry

Questions about rivalry in a sentence

How do you use rivalry in a sentence?: Rivalry is used as a noun. For example: “The Boston Bruins have a longstanding rivalry with the Montreal Canadiens.”
What is a short sentence with rivalry?: “The sibling rivalry in the Bible was odee.”
What does rivalry mean?: Rivalry means an ongoing relationship between (usually two) rivals who compete for superiority.

Adapted from Wiktionary: rivalry (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Cite this page: “How to use rivalry in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/rivalry. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.