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Rival vs Opponent - What's the difference?

rival | opponent |

As nouns the difference between rival and opponent

is that 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 while opponent is an individual or group who is a rival of another.

As adjectives the difference between rival and opponent

is that rival is having the same pretensions or claims; standing in competition for superiority while opponent is situated in front; opposite; hence, opposing; adverse; antagonistic.

As a verb rival

is to oppose or compete with.

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

    * ----

    opponent

    English

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • An individual or group who is a rival of another.
  • One who attempts to stop the progression of.
  • One who objects to.
  • In team sports, a player of an opposite team.

    • Antonyms

    * supporter * proponent * advocate

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • Situated in front; opposite; hence, opposing; adverse; antagonistic.
    • (Alexander Pope)
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