law of the jungle

American  

noun

1. a system or mode of action in which the strongest survive, presumably as animals in nature or as human beings whose activity is not regulated by the laws or ethics of civilization.

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law of the jungle British  

noun

1. a state of ruthless competition or self-interest

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law of the jungle Idioms  

1. Survival of the strongest, as in The recent price war among airlines was governed by the law of the jungle. This term, alluding to the jungle as a place devoid of ethics where brutality and self-interest reign, was first used by Rudyard Kipling in The Jungle Book (1894).

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Etymology

Origin of law of the jungle

First recorded in 1890–95

Example Sentences

That leads to the breakdown of civilization, a state where only the law of the jungle remains.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 22, 2026

She said the UK and its allies should collectively say "we cannot have breaches of international law like this. We cannot have the law of the jungle."

From BBC • Jan. 5, 2026

Many predicted that we would see a return to anarchy or the law of the jungle, in which authoritarian states would ensure that might makes right.

From Washington Post • Jan. 19, 2023

Its shutdown, he said, would leave countries and companies contending with “the law of the jungle … the law of the strongest … and that will hurt us all.’

From Seattle Times • Dec. 9, 2019

Inevitably the law of the jungle is deliberately exalted, or unconsciously adopted, over against the humanist law of moderation and discipline.

From Preaching and Paganism by Fitch, Albert Parker