survival of the fittest

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

noun

1. a popular term for natural selection

Word History and Origins

Origin of survival of the fittest¹

First recorded in 1860–65

Idioms and Phrases

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.

Example Sentences

We’re in a game of survival of the fittest, where surviving itself feels akin to luxuriating in what should be hostile territory, mastering an environment we have come together to ravage.

From Los Angeles Times

"This will be a season of survival of the fittest but I can only put 20 players in the squad," said Ten Hag.

From BBC

It is important when you want to be at the top level, in a season like this, which will be a season of ‘survival of the fittest’ you need squad depth.

From BBC

Watching Springer play game after game and inning after inning is like a survival of the fittest.

From Los Angeles Times

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