herding cats
Wrangling the unwrangleable
Herding cats describes an impossible or frustrating task, especially one involving coordinating people who resist direction or organization.
Cats, unlike sheep or cattle, refuse to be herded—they scatter, ignore commands, and follow their own impulses.
The phrase typically describes managing unruly groups: Getting the committee to agree on anything is like herding cats.
- uphill battleDifficult prolonged endeavor
- wild goose chaseHopeless pursuit of nothing
- wranglingLengthy, contentious disputing
- impossibleIncapable of occurring
- futileIncapable of producing results
like pulling teeth · cat · disorder · corralling · team management · frustrating · chaotic · nonconformity · autonomy · unmanageable · hopeless · entropy · absurdity · stubbornness · resistance · idiosyncrasy · unpredictability · Sisyphean
- Futile taskswild goose chase, fool's errand, tilting at windmills, beating dead horse, chasing rainbows
- impossibilitiessquare circle, squared circle, perpetual motion, dividing by zero, logical paradox
- chaos idiomsall hell breaks loose, pandemonium, madhouse, circus, bedlam
- foolishnessfoolishness, silliness, foolish, stupid, folly
- Futile Effortslost causes, wild goose chase, fool's errand, dead end, waste of time
- cat culturecat portraits, cat prints, cat posters, enamel pins, lucky cat
herding catslike clockwork
With precise regularity
well-oiled machine · military precision · smooth sailing · falling into place · organized chaos
herding catspiece of cake
Idiomatic easy task
walk in the park · child's play · cakewalk · easy as pie · like clockwork
herding catsmilitary precision
Exacting standardized coordination
lockstep · single file · in formation · synchronized · tight ship
herd, shepherd, cattle, cats, herds, herding, herder, herded, cattleman