Synonyms

rat race

American

noun

Informal.

any exhausting, unremitting, and usually competitive activity or routine, especially a pressured urban working life spent trying to get ahead with little time left for leisure, contemplation, etc.

rat race British

noun

a continual routine of hectic competitive activity

working in the City is a real rat race

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

rat race Idioms

Fierce competition to maintain or improve one's position in the workplace or social life. For example, You may not realize what a rat race it is to get research grants. This term presumably alludes to the rat's desperate struggle for survival. [Colloquial; first half of 1900s]

Etymology

Origin of rat race

An Americanism dating back to 1935–40

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

My mom and stepdad wanted a deeper connection with the earth and to get away from the rat race.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 3, 2026

“We’ve left the rat race and false people behind,” he said.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 31, 2026

For this Money Talks, it’s time to turn the rat race into a rat walk on the beach.

From Slate • Oct. 1, 2024

Brown rats are the undisputed winners of the real rat race.

From Seattle Times • Apr. 3, 2024

They say it’s a real rat race and I hope to win it.”

From "Friday Night Lights: A Town, A Team, And A Dream" by H.G. Bissinger

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023