as in opportunistic
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Recent Examples of dog-eat-dog
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
The antics that ensue are amusing, but there isn’t much incisiveness in the increasingly farcical dog-eat-dog dénouement.
—Kyle Chayka, New Yorker, 4 June 2025
With or without his unusual backstory, Greenhalgh quickly realised that elite professional football is a dog-eat-dog world, especially for those who are still trying to prove themselves.
—Stuart James, New York Times, 31 May 2025
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
The antics that ensue are amusing, but there isn’t much incisiveness in the increasingly farcical dog-eat-dog dénouement.
—Kyle Chayka, New Yorker, 4 June 2025
With or without his unusual backstory, Greenhalgh quickly realised that elite professional football is a dog-eat-dog world, especially for those who are still trying to prove themselves.
—Stuart James, New York Times, 31 May 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for dog-eat-dog
Adjective
-
Or would he be seen as too extreme, too inexperienced, too opportunistic, and too blatantly the lover of the limelight?—
Gail Sheehy,
Vanity Fair,
20 Feb. 2026
-
Do said for her, Tet — a holiday that celebrates the end of one lunar new year and the start of the next — comes with opportunistic meaning.—
Victoria Le,
Oc Register,
17 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
Oseguera also assumed control of corrupt police officers and politicians.—
N'dea Yancey-Bragg,
USA Today,
22 Feb. 2026
-
Lies, corrupt leaders, poisoning and persecution of a race.—
K.J. Yossman,
Variety,
22 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
In recent weeks, Trump has again revealed himself to be a stain on basic decency and humanity, demonstrating a depraved indifference to suffering and a laser-like focus on gold and glory.—
Voice of the People,
New York Daily News,
22 Jan. 2026
-
Decked out in a purple velour tracksuit, layered necklaces, a tattered blonde wig, and a tiara, Jimmy is the cult leader to a small, depraved group of satanists who claim to be the son of the Devil himself.—
Nick Romano,
Entertainment Weekly,
14 Jan. 2026
Adjective
-
Today, the urgent challenge before the royal family and many other institutions protected by mystique is whether the often degenerate select few in charge can still persuade the mass of people to remain beguiled and accept authority.—
Sean Williams,
Harpers Magazine,
27 Jan. 2026
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For reasons still not wholly understood, these ultradense objects—each about the mass of our star squeezed into a bizarre, city-sized ball of degenerate quantum matter—undergo starquakes in which the material on the surface shifts a bit like in an earthly tremor.—
Phil Plait,
Scientific American,
22 Jan. 2026
Adjective
-
Only the first is still fashionable, and the last has been so debased, misused, and weaponized over the centuries as to be almost unspeakable in polite company.—
Zadie Smith,
New Yorker,
22 Sep. 2025
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But in recent years, acts of brazen violence have been the grim drumbeat of a debased national politics.—
Eric Cortellessa,
Time,
11 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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In a major change from the book, the period drama opens at a debauched public hanging, where a young Catherine Earnshaw (Charlotte Mellington) looks on as a man dangles from a noose.—
Patrick Ryan,
USA Today,
13 Feb. 2026
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There were months of speculation that Sam Levinson’s debauched series—about teenagers getting up to stuff no parent ever wants to know about—wouldn’t be able to get off the ground for a third run thanks to the new star power and busy schedules of its cast (Zendaya!—
Lucy Ford,
Time,
27 Dec. 2025
Adjective
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This season on the road, Newcastle have been particularly profligate in possession.—
Chris Waugh,
New York Times,
5 Jan. 2026
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The profligate spending of the Biden administration and the monetary mismanagement of the Federal Reserve caused both home prices and interest rates to skyrocket, a deadly one-two punch that knocked out the housing market.—
E.J. Antoni,
Mercury News,
28 Nov. 2025
Adjective
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Despite being outnumbered and outmaneuvered, Washington maintained order among his demoralized troops.—
Christopher Magra,
The Conversation,
10 Feb. 2026
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The Democratic Party has funneled all the fury of its demoralized and humiliated voter base into a focal point centered on immigration policy.—
Torrey Snow,
Baltimore Sun,
21 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Dog-eat-dog.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/dog-eat-dog. Accessed 25 Feb. 2026.
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