definitions

in a rut

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]

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RELATED WORDS

die-hard, reactionary, traditional, timid, middle-of-the-road, accepted, firm, right, constant, redneck, traditionalist, steady, quiet, fuddy-duddy, stable, bourgeois, Tory, rightist, controlled, conventional

Nearby words

in a lather, in a manner of speaking, in a nutshell, in a pig's eye, in a pinch, in a rut, in a sense, in a snit, in a state, in a stew, in a tight corner
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.