Dilemma
[dɪ'lemə;daɪ-] or [dɪˈlemə]
Definition
(noun.) state of uncertainty or perplexity especially as requiring a choice between equally unfavorable options.
Checker: Roberta--From WordNet
Definition
(n.) An argument which presents an antagonist with two or more alternatives, but is equally conclusive against him, whichever alternative he chooses.
(n.) A state of things in which evils or obstacles present themselves on every side, and it is difficult to determine what course to pursue; a vexatious alternative or predicament; a difficult choice or position.
Typist: Ted
Synonyms and Synonymous
n. Quandary, strait, difficult choice, puzzling alternative, awkward or bad predicament.
Checker: Rhonda
Synonyms and Antonyms
SYN:Fix, hobble, quandary, doubt, difficulty, scrape
ANT:Extrication, rebutment, freedom, advantage, superiority, escape, solution,retort
Typist: Shane
Definition
n. a form of argument in which the maintainer of a certain proposition is committed to accept one of two alternative propositions each of which contradicts his original contention: a position where each of two alternative courses (or of all the feasible courses) is eminently undesirable: a trying practical difficulty. The argument was called a 'horned syllogism ' and the victim compared to a man certain to be impaled on one or other of the horns of an infuriated bull hence the Horns of a dilemma: the usual phrase Landed in a dilemma is or suggests a mixed metaphor.—adj. Dilemmat′ic.
Edited by Dwight
Examples
- Fred felt himself to be in a disgusting dilemma. George Eliot. Middlemarch.
- One morning, coming on me abruptly, and with the semblance of hurryshe said she found herself placed in a little dilemma. Charlotte Bronte. Villette.
- It was just like Ellen, Mrs. Welland's tired voice implied, to place the family in such a dilemma. Edith Wharton. The Age of Innocence.
- Advantage was taken of this dilemma by Mr Venus, to pass a scrap of paper into Mr Boffin's hand, and lay his finger on his own lip. Charles Dickens. Our Mutual Friend.
- If we choose the first part of the dilemma, these are the consequences. David Hume. A Treatise of Human Nature.
- He tells an amusing story of one dilemma into which his good-nature led him at this period: At Menlo Park one day, a farmer came in and asked if I knew any way to kill potato-bugs. Frank Lewis Dyer. Edison, His Life and Inventions.
- No doubt a sense of this dilemma is partly responsible for Wilson's earnest plea that the question of liquor be left out of the campaign. Walter Lippmann. A Preface to Politics.
- Mr. Bry, a short pale man, with a business face and leisure clothes, met the dilemma hilariously. Edith Wharton. The House of Mirth.
- The dilemma makes no provision for coming to know, for learning; it assumes either complete knowledge or complete ignorance. John Dewey. Democracy and Education.
- You see my dilemma. Arthur Conan Doyle. The Return of Sherlock Holmes.
- Bear in mind that interest means the active or moving identity of the self with a certain object, and the whole alleged dilemma falls to the ground. John Dewey. Democracy and Education.
- He fought the dilemma long, but yielded at last. Mark Twain. The Innocents Abroad.
- When Fort Sumter was fired upon, Uncle Sam turned to the Remington plant, among others, for help out of his dilemma of unpreparedness. Various. The Wonder Book of Knowledge.
- In this dilemma Mr. Pickwick bethought himself of his new friend, Mr. Perker. Charles Dickens. The Pickwick Papers.
- This question is very difficult, and reduces us to a very dangerous dilemma, whichever way we answer it. David Hume. A Treatise of Human Nature.
Checker: Wade