survival of the fittest

American  

noun

1. (not in technical use) natural selection.

2. a 19th-century concept of human society, inspired by the principle of natural selection, postulating that those who are eliminated in the struggle for existence are the unfit.

---

survival of the fittest British  

noun

1. a popular term for natural selection

---

survival of the fittest Idioms  

1. Those best adapted to particular conditions will succeed in the long run, as in They've had to close a dozen of their stores, but the ones in the western part of the state are doing well—it's the survival of the fittest. This phrase was invented by Herbert Spencer in Principles of Biology (1864) to describe Charles Darwin's theory of natural selection of living species. By the early 1900s it was being transferred to other areas.

---

Etymology

Origin of survival of the fittest

First recorded in 1860–65

Example Sentences

Molango fears the World Cup will simply become a "survival of the fittest".

From BBC • May 26, 2026

New CEO Greg Abel might favor survival of the fittest.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 22, 2026

The researchers hypothesized that the limited shapes observed in nature reflected "survival of the fittest," and that the many possible shapes not observed in real fungi were, for some reason, weaker evolutionary rejects.

From Science Daily • Mar. 25, 2024

Groff’s world is Darwinian, but she doesn’t chronicle the survival of the fittest; she convinces us instead that even the unluckiest among us can find a way to the blessings of peace, quiet and freedom.

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 7, 2023

If Darwin were alive today the insect world would delight and astound him with its impressive verification of his theories of the survival of the fittest.

From "Silent Spring" by Rachel Carson