English edit

Etymology edit

rivalry +‎ -ous

Pronunciation edit

  • (UK) IPA(key): /ˈɹaɪv(ə)lɹəs/
    • (file)
  • (US) IPA(key): /ˈɹaɪvəlɹəs/, /ɹaɪvl̩ɹəs/
  • Hyphenation: ri‧val‧rous

Adjective edit

rivalrous (comparative more rivalrous, superlative most rivalrous)

  1. Having a relationship of rivalry.
    • 2007 October 12, Stephen Holden, “At New York Film Festival: Upheaval in Iran, fiasco in Westchester”, in The New York Times[1], archived from the original on June 5, 2015:
      In “Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead,” Mr. Lumet’s 45th film, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Ethan Hawke play rivalrous brothers whose bungled robbery of their parents’ modest jewelry store in Westchester County begins a cycle of quasi-Greek family tragedy without a catharsis.
    • 2015 September 12, Steven Erlanger, “Are Western values losing their sway? [print version: Did liberalism win? It's not clear, International New York Times, 14 September 2015, p. 7]”, in The New York Times[2]:
      Western universalism was real, if rivalrous.
  2. (economics, of a good) Which can be consumed by no more than one person at the same time.
    • 20th–21st century, Thomas A. McGahagan, “Public Goods”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name)[3], Department of Economics, University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown, archived from the original on May 5, 2015:
      Rivalrous goods are those which can be consumed by only one person at the same time – for example, a candy bar or a suit; []

Derived terms edit

Translations edit