in a rut

1. In a settled or established habit or course of action, especially a boring one. For example, We go to the seashore every summer—we're in a rut, or After ten years at the same job she says she's in a rut. This expression alludes to having a wheel stuck in a groove in the road. [Early 1800s]

Example Sentences

He’s the kind of guy weighed down by an internal inertia, asleep while standing up, stuck in a rut.

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Oil prices are in a rut, and could keep falling.

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It is less clear if Beijing will offer tangible steps to spur household spending and revive the economy, which is still stuck in a rut and flirting with deflation because of aggressive spending in areas such as electric vehicles and solar.

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For all his messing with the menu in search of a Michelin star, Carmy is stuck in a rut — cue clip from “Groundhog Day” — and has also become maddeningly inarticulate, almost beyond speech; much of what White does this year is listen and react, doing subtle work with his face and fingers, interjecting an occasional “Yeah,” while family or colleagues unburden themselves or take him to task.

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I’d been in a rut with dating, feeling as stagnant as the 405 Freeway on a Friday afternoon.

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Related Words

• ended www.thesaurus.com
• established 
• resolved