Dilemma

Noun

 * 1) A circumstance in which a choice must be made between two or more alternatives that seem equally undesirable.
 * 2)  (disputed) A difficult circumstance or problem.
 * 3)  A type of syllogism of the form "if A is true then B is true; if C is true then D is true; either A or C is true; therefore either B or D is true".
 * 4)  Offering to an opponent a choice between two (equally unfavorable) alternatives.

Adjectives for Dilemma
economic; awkward; annoying; ancient; veritable; insoluble; cruel; moral; pitiful; agonizing; dire; frightful; doubtful; sentimental; unpleasant; terrible; desperate; inescapable; hopeless.

Verbs for Dilemma
balk at—; drift into—; elude—; escape from—; extricate from—; face—; founder on—; grasp—; rescue from—; seize—; solve—; take—by the horns; —baffles; — confronts.

Synonyms for Dilemma

 * bind, fix, pickle, problem, quandary
 * doubt, predicament, difficulty, plight, perplexity.
 * doubt, predicament, difficulty, plight, perplexity.
 * doubt, predicament, difficulty, plight, perplexity.
 * doubt, predicament, difficulty, plight, perplexity.

Antonyms for Dilemma
escape, solution, freedom, advantage.

Derived terms

 * on the horns of a dilemma

Related terms

 * lemma
 * trilemma

Thesaurus
Aristotelian sorites, Goclenian sorites, Gordian knot, Scylla and Charybdis, baffle, bafflement, bewilderment, bind, bother, box, catch-22, categorical syllogism, choice of Hercules, confoundment, confusion, corner, crux, deadlock, difficulty, discomposure, disconcert, disconcertedness, disconcertion, disconcertment, disturbance, embarrassment, enigma, enthymeme, figure, fix, hole, impasse, jam, knot, knotty point, mode, modus tollens, mood, mystery, mystification, no choice, node, nodus, nonplus, only choice, oxymoron, paradox, paralogism, perplexity, perturbation, pickle, plight, pons asinorum, poser, pother, predicament, problem, prosyllogism, pseudosyllogism, puzzle, puzzlement, quandary, riddle, rule, rule of deduction, scrape, snooker, sorites, spot, squeeze, stalemate, stew, stymie, syllogism, teaser, trouble, unassuredness, upset, vexed question

Etymology
First attested 1523, from dilemma:, from  δίλημμα:, from δι-: + λῆμμα:.

Translations

 * Czech:
 * Dutch:
 * French:
 * German:
 * Ido: dilemo
 * Italian:
 * Malayalam: ധര്‍മ്മസങ്കടം (dharma sankatam)


 * Polish: dylemat
 * Slovak: dilema f
 * Spanish:
 * Swedish:
 * Telugu: విచికిత్స (vichikitsa)
 * Turkish:
 * Volapük: diläm


 * Italian:

Anagrams

 * midmeal

Noun

 * 1) dilemma (between two alternatives)

Noun

 * 1) dilemma (between two alternatives)

Etymology
From δίλήμμα:.

Noun

 * 1) dilemma (between two alternatives)

Related terms

 * dilemmatico

Anagrams

 * dammeli
 * dimmela