"Rhabdomys dilectus" is a fairly typical smallish murid, rather larger than house mice.Head+body length is between 90 and 135 mm, the length of the tail between 80 and 135 mm, the length of the foot between 17 and 33 mm, the length of the ears between 10.0 and 20 mm and the weight up to 68 g.

The back is dark reddish-brown and displays characteristic black longitudinal stripes.