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Glite Dictionary
to herd cats

to herd cats

1 9.3
To try to manage people or situations that are hard to control
  • idiom
  • Informal
translation icon : intentar organizar a personas difíciles
  • Trying to organize atheists is like trying to herd cats.

Examples

  • It's like attempting to herd cats.

    Blog text (9)

  • QUESTION, Mr. Robinson: As a lawyer, I know nothing about human resource management because 200 partners and one leader create a situation not unlike one leader trying to herd cats.

    Academic text (1996)

  • "Herding cats"

    Blog text (23)

  • He, who had never completed a university degree, was able to assemble the highest caliber of academics around his table and to herd cats, as they say.

    Blog text (5)

  • Trying to manage such a large group of volunteers felt like herding cats.

  • Incorporating everyone's ideas into the project was like herding cats.

  • Whenever we plan an event, it always turns into herding cats with so many opinions.

Synonyms

to ride herd on
vsto herd cats
  • Informal
1 8.9

Keep a close watch on people and their work

is about trying to manage chaotic or hard to control situations
herding cats
vsto herd cats
  • Informal
8.6

Trying to manage a messy situation or people who are hard to control

is the same meaning but expressed in a shorter form

How Difficult

to herd cats
  • Informal
1 9.3
to round up
169 3.2
to coordinate
325 4.1
to manage
239 2.3
to organize
  • US
662 1.6

Surface Forms

herd cats infinitive
herded cats past
herded cats past participle
herding cats present participle
herds cats third person singular

Morphology

herd + cat

The verb 'herd' (to gather or move animals/people) combined with 'cats' evokes a clear image: cats are typically independent and hard to corral, so the phrase metaphorically describes trying to manage something difficult. Because understanding the idiom relies on world knowledge about cats' behavior rather than a direct compositional rule, it is inferable for some learners but not fully predictable for an average B1 learner without that cultural knowledge.

Etymology

The idiom herd cats comes from the image of trying to herd cats like sheep, but cats run away and do their own thing. So the picture explains why the phrase means 'to try to manage people or situations that are very hard to control'.