Compete: Striving Against Others for the Same Thing
To compete is to try to win something that others want too. The Latin root means to seek together, which describes the situation more honestly than the English word does.
Compete means to strive against others for a prize, a place or a customer. The Latin original, *competere*, meant to strive together or to come together — because competitors are, whether they like it or not, engaged in the same pursuit.
- To take part in a contest. *She competes at national level.*
- To strive against rivals. *Small shops cannot compete on price.*
- To be good enough to rival. *This car competes with far pricier models.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Verb | compete | They compete every season. |
| Noun | competition | Stiff competition. |
| Person | competitor | A serious competitor. |
| Adjective | competitive | A competitive market. |
| Adjective | competent | A competent lawyer. |
How it is used in a sentence
- Three firms competed for the contract.Compete for the prize.
- We cannot compete with their delivery times.Compete with the rival.
- Salaries here are competitive.Job-advert English meaning roughly what others pay.
Compete, contend, rival and vie
- Compete — the general word, for sport, business or anything scarce
- Contend — struggle against, and also to argue a position
- Rival — be a serious match for someone
- Vie — compete eagerly, and mostly found in writing
- Contest — dispute or fight for, with a formal edge
From Latin *competere*, to strive together or be fit for. That second sense produced a different English word entirely: *competent*, meaning adequate to the task. Compete and competent are the same Latin verb pulled in two directions.
Compete with or compete against?
Both are correct. Against is more common in sport, with in business. Compete for takes the prize.
Does competitive always mean fierce?
No. A competitive price simply means comparable to others, not aggressively low.