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dog-eat-dog

adjective

Definition of dog-eat-dognext
as in opportunistic

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of dog-eat-dog 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 See All Example Sentences for dog-eat-dog
Recent Examples of Synonyms for dog-eat-dog
  1. opportunistic
  2. corrupt
  3. depraved
  4. degenerate
  5. debased
  6. debauched
  7. profligate
  8. demoralized
Adjective
  • Dillane, superb in Harris Dickinson’s Urchin, has presence but is somewhat shortchanged by the script’s one-dimensional grasp of Willoughby, the dashing romantic hero revealed to be an opportunistic cad who breaks Marianne’s heart.
    — David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 21 Sep. 2026
  • Gulf airlines are coming out swinging after a brutal year, fending off opportunistic European rivals and instability at home.
    — semafor.com, semafor.com, 16 Sep. 2026
Definition of opportunistic
Adjective
  • Per the Season 4 logline, Dwight (Stallone) fights to legitimize his empire and protect his crew as corrupt politicians, dangerous new enemies, and a crushing personal loss hit from every direction.
    — Denise Petski, Deadline, 28 Sep. 2026
  • The government is attempting to improve shattered services and open up an economy closed by the corrupt Assad regime, which ran the economy with an iron fist and embezzled billions for the Assad clan and their allies.
    — Taylor Luck, Christian Science Monitor, 28 Sep. 2026
Definition of corrupt
Adjective
  • Who doesn’t want to hear about the possible soulless and depraved having an affair and getting away with it?
    — Sean Joseph OutKick, FOXNews.com, 17 Sep. 2026
  • Chad Powers season 2 Season one, which spun an Eli Manning gimmick video into a sports comedy with Glen Powell as a disgraced college-football star, started to veer in a fascinating, somewhat depraved direction.
    — Savannah Salazar, Vulture, 4 Sep. 2026
Definition of depraved
Adjective
  • When the discs degenerate, vertebrae lose the spongy buffer between bones, resulting in pain.
    — New Atlas, New Atlas, 19 Aug. 2026
  • Or when some man behaving like a degenerate gambler plods into Chelsea Gray’s DMs with a disgusting slur.
    — Candace Buckner, New York Times, 27 July 2026
Definition of degenerate
Adjective
  • The plates feature debased imprints of the same signature shapes, creating a dialogue with the glasses.
    — Sofia Celeste, Footwear News, 17 Sep. 2026
  • That wasn’t its only subject; comedy and power and misogyny and creativity and intergenerational conflict and work ethic and, especially in its last few seasons, the debased state of the entertainment industry were all richly explored through lines.
    — Judy Berman, Time, 8 July 2026
Definition of debased
Adjective
  • There is something debauched and luxurious about Durham’s photos, and not just because everyone in them is dressed as French aristocrats guzzling champagne and popping bon-bons.
    — Leah Dolan, CNN Money, 26 Sep. 2026
  • For his story was a record of his most debauched thoughts and desires.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 12 Aug. 2026
Definition of debauched
Adjective
  • Bournemouth were profligate, despite scoring through Marcus Tavernier and forcing a Malick Thiaw own goal, with multiple first-half chances wasted.
    — Chris Waugh, New York Times, 6 Sep. 2026
  • This shift occasioned the profligate production that would mark her oeuvre, with Kusama going on to make hundreds of paintings in which forests of lines and dots cradled variously floral and phallic figures.
    — News Desk, Artforum, 27 Aug. 2026
Definition of profligate
Adjective
  • Despite being outnumbered and outmaneuvered, Washington maintained order among his demoralized troops.
    — Christopher Magra, The Conversation, 10 Feb. 2026
  • 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
Definition of demoralized

Browse Nearby Words

dog-eared
dog-eat-dog
dogface
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Dog-eat-dog.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/dog-eat-dog. Accessed 2 Oct. 2026.

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