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Opposition vs Rival - What's the difference?

opposition | rival | Related terms |

As nouns the difference between opposition and rival

is that opposition is the action of opposing or of being in conflict while rival is 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.

As an adjective rival is

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

As a verb rival is

to oppose or compete with.

opposition

English

Noun

(en noun)
  • The action of opposing or of being in conflict.
  • An opposite or contrasting position.
  • An opponent in some form of competition.
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-08-10, volume=408, issue=8848, magazine=(The Economist)
  • , title= Can China clean up fast enough? , passage=That worries the government, which fears that environmental activism could become the foundation for more general political opposition .}}
  • (astronomy) The apparent relative position of two celestial bodies when one is at an angle of 180 degrees from the other as seen from the Earth.
  • (senseid)(politics) A political party or movement opposed to the party or government in power.
  • (legal) In United States intellectual property law, a proceeding in which an interested party seeks to prevent the registration of a trademark or patent.
  • (chess) A position in which the player on the move must yield with his king allowing his opponent to advance with his own king.
  • Antonyms

    * apposition

    rival

    English

    Noun

    (en 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.
  • *{{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-21, author=(Oliver Burkeman)
  • , volume=189, issue=2, page=27, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly) , title= The tao of tech , passage=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
  • Someone or something with similar claims of quality or distinction as another.
  • (obsolete) One having a common right or privilege with another; a partner.
  • * (William Shakespeare)
  • If you do meet Horatio and Marcellus, / The rivals of my watch, bid them make haste.

    Derived terms

    * rivalry * archrival

    Adjective

    (-)
  • Having the same pretensions or claims; standing in competition for superiority.
  • rival lovers; rival claims or pretensions
  • * Macaulay
  • The strenuous conflicts and alternate victories of two rival confederacies of statesmen.

    Verb

  • To oppose or compete with.
  • to rival somebody in love
  • To be equal to or to surpass another.
  • *{{quote-book, year=1963, author=(Margery Allingham)
  • , title=(The China Governess) , chapter=1 citation , passage=The original family who had begun to build a palace to rival Nonesuch had died out before they had put up little more than the gateway, […].}}
  • To strive to equal or excel; to emulate.
  • * Dryden
  • to rival thunder in its rapid course

    Anagrams

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