Word.ws English Dictionary

rat race

UK/ˈɹæt ˌɹeɪs/

More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations

Australia/ˈɹæt ˌɹæɪs/

rat race noun: an activity or situation which is congested with participants and which is hectic or tedious, especially in the context of a busy, modern urban lifestyle.

Noun

rat race (plural rat races)

  1. (informal) An activity or situation which is congested with participants and which is hectic or tedious, especially in the context of a busy, modern urban lifestyle.
    • […] a 1950s-ish town, keeping a sense of community far from the superhighway rat race.2006 May 14, Richard Corliss, “Get Your Motor Running”, in Time
  2. (broadly) The busy, modern urban lifestyle itself, especially when seen as a competition for wealth or power.
    • Forget about the rat race / Let's do the Milkshake / Selling like a hotcake1979, Robin Scott, “Pop Muzik”
    • I was running away […] from my inability, although I am quite an attractive rat, to make headway in the rat-race.1980 [1962], Ian Fleming, chapter 1, in The Spy Who Loved Me, →ISBN, page 3
  3. Inconsiderate or unfair competition, where the competitors are willing to use any means to win.

rat race meaning in Tamil

rat race in Tamil

போட்டிம‌ய‌ம்

Forms of rat race

pluralrat races
alternative formrat-race

Origin of rat race

From rat + race.

Words formed from rat race

Questions about rat race

What does rat race mean?
Rat race means an activity or situation which is congested with participants and which is hectic or tedious, especially in the context of a busy, modern urban lifestyle.
What is rat race in Tamil?
Rat race in Tamil is போட்டிம‌ய‌ம். See Rat race meaning in Tamil.
What part of speech is rat race?
Rat race is a noun.
How do you pronounce rat race?
Rat race is pronounced /ˈɹæt ˌɹeɪs/ (UK).
What is the plural of rat race?
The plural of rat race is rat races.

Words near rat race in the dictionary

  1. rat poison
  2. rat poisons
  3. Rat Portage
  4. rat printing office
  5. rat printing offices
  6. rat race
  7. rat racer
  8. rat racers
  9. rat races
  10. rat ran
  11. rat rod

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: rat race (page history and authors); rat race (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-au-rat race.ogg.

Cite this entry: “rat race.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/rat_race. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.