dog-eat-dog

adjective

ˌdȯg-ˌē(t)-ˈdȯg 

: marked by ruthless self-interest

dog-eat-dog competition

Examples of dog-eat-dog in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

But social mobility in this dog-eat-dog environment comes at a high price, one the benevolent Rastignac is initially unwilling to pay. — Big Think, 29 Apr. 2026

Halton described himself as an explosive play-maker who can be a dog in a dog-eat-dog world. — Cam Inman, Mercury News, 25 Apr. 2026

People sometimes forget that World War II was a dog-eat-dog struggle for resources – oil and uranium but also dozens of other materials, everything from rubber to copper. — Thomas Robertson, Fortune, 17 Feb. 2026

Rhyme schemes become secondary to dog-eat-dog dogma. — Pitchfork, 10 Dec. 2025

Stability and predictability would be the exception, not the norm, in a dog-eat-dog world. — Alexander Stubb, Foreign Affairs, 2 Dec. 2025

Joy radiates in the room, and a dog-eat-dog environment where people cut each other off is replaced by open collaboration. — Barry Levitt, Time, 19 Sep. 2025

Each episode is built around a tense, dog-eat-dog hunt, where each player becomes either a Predator or Prey. — Jesse Whittock, Deadline, 2 July 2025

Ditch the dog-eat-dog mentality and figure out how to combine their apocalyptic gifts against a common enemy. — Natalie Zutter june 30, Literary Hub, 30 June 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1834, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for dog-eat-dog

• analog
• analogue
• catalogue
• decalogue
• demagogue
• dialogue
• epilogue
• homologue
• monologue
• pedagogue
• synagogue
• tagalog