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

Aiming to escape the rat race and find opportunities for work in a bleak job market, the founders use artificial intelligence to code, communicate with customers and promote their products.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 20, 2026

"Our younger generation... they're always in this little rat race, keeping up with social media," the 61-year-old said.

From Barron's ● Sep. 7, 2026

Yet the pressures - the ones that are pushing more Chinese youth to quit the rat race, "lie flat" and take their frustrations out online - remain.

From BBC ● Sep. 25, 2025

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