competition
/ˌkɑm.pəˈtɪʃ.ən/noun
competition is spelled C-O-M-P-E-T-I-T-I-O-N. The wrong spelling people search most is competetion: about 90 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 1 in 79 of all searches for the word. Competition is a noun meaning “The action of competing”. The plural of competition is competitions.
How many letters and syllables are in competition?
| Letters | 11: C-O-M-P-E-T-I-T-I-O-N |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 4 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 81 times per million words; the 1,302nd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | 3; the most searched, competetion, about 90 Bing searches a month (all of them) |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How do you spell competition?
Competition is spelled C-O-M-P-E-T-I-T-I-O-N. 3 wrong spellings are searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 1 in 65 of the searches for competition in either form.
Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026). Wrong spellings are taken from Wiktionary entries tagged "misspelling" and its obsolete or nonstandard forms, Wikipedia's Lists of common misspellings and the codespell dictionary, then measured. The proofreader's marks show the change that corrects each one.
How common is competition?
Competition appears 81 times per million words in written English, the 1,302nd most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce competition?
- UK /ˌkɒm.pəˈtɪʃ.ən/
- US /ˌkɑm.pəˈtɪʃ.ən/
- Canada /ˌkɒm.pəˈtɪʃ.ən/
Competition has 4 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-competition.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with competition?
The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as competition from its last stressed vowel (/ɪʃən/):
- position
- opposition
- permission
- composition
- acquisition
- coalition
- physician
- politician
- admission
- nutrition
- expedition
- ambition
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of competition
- competitions plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does competition mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The action of competing.
The competition for this job is strong.
- 2
A contest for a prize or award.
The newspaper is featuring a competition to win a car.
- 3
The competitors in such a contest.
The new stain remover was ten times more effective than the competition.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you abbreviate competition?
Wiktionary records 3 abbreviations of competition: comp, competish, compo.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Competition in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | compétition, concurrence , concours |
| German | Konkurrenz , Wettbewerb |
| Portuguese | competição , concurso |
| Spanish | competición |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does competition come from?
Borrowed from French compétition, from Late Latin competītiō, competītiōnem, from Latin competō, from con- + petō. By surface analysis, compete + -ition.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).