rat race

American  

noun

Informal.

1. 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.

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rat race British  

noun

1. a continual routine of hectic competitive activity

   working in the City is a real rat race

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rat race Idioms  

1. 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]

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Etymology

Origin of rat race

An Americanism dating back to 1935–40

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

rat race

Fording said that he wanted to avoid the "rat race style of life" and "it is quieter, not as much traffic and we have everything we need here."

From BBC ● Aug. 8, 2026

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

“Joey also wants you to know that he has dropped out of the rat race and has rejoined the human race.”

From "Fourth Grade Rats" by Jerry Spinelli