Meaning & use
a gym rat
Last updated
Meaning
nouncountableinformal
A person who spends a lot of time exercising at a gym, often very enthusiastically.
Grammar: Countable noun phrase: one gym rat, two gym rats. Often used with 'be' or 'become': He's a gym rat.
Patterns
- be a gym rat
- become a gym rat
- a total gym rat
My brother is a gym rat — he goes twice a day.
She became a gym rat after she started training for the marathon.
The gym is always full of gym rats early in the morning.
Word forms
| plural | gym rats |
|---|
Common combinations
- a total gym rat
- He's a total gym rat; he even works out on holidays.
- become a gym rat
- After college, she became a gym rat and got very fit.
- a real gym rat
- My cousin is a real gym rat — he knows everyone at the gym.
- a gym rat lifestyle
- He lives a gym rat lifestyle, training every day.
Synonyms and how they differ
- fitness fanatic
- 'Fitness fanatic' is stronger and suggests an obsession; 'gym rat' is more casual and often affectionate.
- workout enthusiast
- This is a neutral, formal phrase; 'gym rat' is informal and implies spending a lot of time at the gym.
Opposites
Word family
- gym noun
- A place with equipment for physical exercise.
Commonly confused: a gym rat or pack rat?
a gym rat vs pack rat
A pack rat is a person who collects and keeps too many things; a gym rat exercises a lot. The second word is the same but the meaning is different.
Practice
He spends three hours at the gym every day — he's a real ______.
Choose one answer.
'Gym rat' is the informal phrase for someone who spends a lot of time at the gym. 'Pack rat' means a person who hoards things, and the other options are not established phrases.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “a gym rat”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.