dilemma
- 1A situation requiring a choice between two or more options that all seem equally undesirable.
The senator faced a dilemma between supporting the unpopular bill and angering her donors.
Choosing whether to report her colleague placed her in a genuine moral dilemma.
Similarquandary, predicament, bind
Note
The everyday sense still carries its Greek shape. Dílēmma meant an "ambiguous proposition," from di- "two" and lêmma "premise," and English has used it since 1523. Strictly, a dilemma offers at least two ways out, each as unwelcome as the other. Swift's An Epistle to Mr. Gay (1731) puts it in one line: "To act with infamy, or quit the place." The usual plural is dilemmas, and the learned dilemmata also exists.
- 2A troublesome situation or hard problem of any kind.
The sudden budget cut presented the department with an unexpected dilemma.
Every startup eventually confronts the dilemma of scaling too quickly or too slowly.
Similarproblem, difficulty, predicament, trouble, quandary
Note
Here the word loosens. No pair of options is needed, only trouble, which is why quandary, pickle, fix and bind can stand in for it. If you mean the hard choice between evils, name the alternatives. Without them, a reader will hear this broader sense of a problem you are stuck with.
- 3A form of argument that pairs two conditional statements with an either-or premise, concluding that one of two results must follow.
The philosopher constructed a dilemma to show that either conclusion led to absurdity.
By framing the argument as a dilemma, the logician forced acceptance of one of two conclusions.
Note
In logic, the Greek "double premise" earns its name. Two conditionals are tied to an either-or, and the conclusion is itself an either-or: it never says which result follows, only that one must. The argument's force lies in closing the exits. Whichever branch you grant, you are committed to its consequence, which is why philosophers use it to drive both alternatives toward absurdity.
- 4The tactic of presenting an opponent with a choice between two options that are equally unfavorable to them.
The prosecutor laid a dilemma before the witness, whose every answer hurt the defense.
Her closing argument rested on a dilemma: either the company knew about the defect and hid it, or it never tested its own product.
Note
Turned on an opponent, the logical form becomes a tactic. Its two options are traditionally called horns, and the ways out are named after them. You can seize one horn, accepting that option and showing it does no harm, or go between the horns by showing that a third option exists. The logician's syllogism is its skeleton; the question that hurts either way is its use.
Practice
Can you tell the meanings of dilemma apart? Answer 4 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.
Origin
First recorded in 1523, it comes through Late Latin dilemma from Ancient Greek dílēmma ('ambiguous proposition'), formed from di- ('having two of') and lêmma ('premise, proposition').