# dilemma

Pronunciation: say "dy-LEM-uh" US/UK /daɪˈlɛmə/, AUS /dɑeˈlemə/

## Noun

1. A situation requiring a choice between two or more options that all seem equally undesirable.
   - Simple: A hard choice where every option seems bad.
   - _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._
2. A troublesome situation or hard problem of any kind.
   - Simple: Any difficult problem or hard situation you have to deal with.
   - _The sudden budget cut presented the department with an unexpected dilemma._
   - _Every startup eventually confronts the dilemma of scaling too quickly or too slowly._
3. A form of argument that pairs two conditional statements with an either-or premise, concluding that one of two results must follow.
   - Simple: A way of reasoning where two if-then rules and an either-or fact lead to one of two results.
   - _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._
4. The tactic of presenting an opponent with a choice between two options that are equally unfavorable to them.
   - Simple: A move in an argument that gives your opponent two choices, both equally bad for 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._

## 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').

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/dilemma (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).