Adjacent Words

Dilemma definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

DILEMMA, n. [Gr., a syllogism which strikes on each side; an assumption; to take.]
1. In logic, an argument equally conclusive by contrary suppositions. A young rhetorician said to an old sophist; Instruct me in pleading, and I will pay you, when I gain a cause. The master sued for the reward, and the scholar endeavored to elude the claim by a dilemma. If I gain my cause, I shall withhold your pay, because the award of the judge will be against you. It I lose it, I may withhold it, because I shall not yet have gained a cause. The master replied: If you gain your cause, you must pay me, because you are to pay me, when you gain a cause; if you lose it, you must pay me, because you are to pay me, when you gain a cause; if you lose it, you must pay me, because the judge will award it.
2. A difficult or doubtful choice; 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 strong dilemma in a desperate case!
To act with infamy, or quit the place.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: state of uncertainty or perplexity especially as requiring a choice between equally unfavorable options [syn: dilemma, quandary]

Merriam Webster's

noun Etymology: Late Latin, from Late Greek dil?mmat-, dil?mma, probably back-formation from Greek dil?mmatos involving two assumptions, from di- + l?mmat-, l?mma assumption — more at lemma Date: 1523 1. an argument presenting two or more equally conclusive alternatives against an opponent 2. a. a usually undesirable or unpleasant choice <faces this dilemma: raise interest rates and slow the economy or lower them and risk serious inflation> b. a situation involving such a choice <here am I brought to a very pretty dilemma; I must commit murder or commit matrimony — George Farquhar>; broadly predicament <lords and bailiffs were in a terrible dilemma — G. M. Trevelyan> 3. a. a problem involving a difficult choice <the dilemma of “liberty versus order” — J. M. Burns> b. a difficult or persistent problem <unemployment…the great central dilemma of our advancing technology — August Heckscher> • dilemmatic adjective Usage: Although some commentators insist that dilemma be restricted to instances in which the alternatives to be chosen are equally unsatisfactory, their concern is misplaced; the unsatisfactoriness of the options is usually a matter of how the author presents them. What is distressing or painful about a dilemma is having to make a choice one does not want to make. The use of such adjectives as terrible, painful, and irreconcilable suggests that dilemma is losing some of its unpleasant force. There also seems to be a tendency especially in sense 3b toward applying the word to less weighty problems <solved their goaltending dilemma — Pat Calabria>.

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. 1 a situation in which a choice has to be made between two equally undesirable alternatives. 2 a state of indecision between two alternatives. 3 disp. a difficult situation. 4 an argument forcing an opponent to choose either of two unfavourable alternatives. Etymology: L f. Gk (as DI-(1), lemma premiss)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Dilemma Di*lem"ma, n. [L. dilemma, Gr. ?; di- = di`s- twice + ? to take. See Lemma.] 1. (Logic) An argument which presents an antagonist with two or more alternatives, but is equally conclusive against him, whichever alternative he chooses. Note: The following are instances of the dilemma. A young rhetorician applied to an old sophist to be taught the art of pleading, and bargained for a certain reward to be paid when he should gain a cause. The master sued for his reward, and the scholar endeavored to ?lude his claim by a dilemma. ``If I gain my cause, I shall withhold your pay, because the judge's award will be against you; if I lose it, I may withhold it, because I shall not yet have gained a cause.'' ``On the contrary,'' says the master, ``if you gain your cause, you must pay me, because you are to pay me when you gain a cause; if you lose it, you must pay me, because the judge will award it.'' --Johnson. 2. 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. A strong dilemma in a desperate case! To act with infamy, or quit the place. --Swift. Horns of a dilemma, alternatives, each of which is equally difficult of encountering.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(dilemmas) A dilemma is a difficult situation in which you have to choose between two or more alternatives. He was faced with the dilemma of whether or not to return to his country... on the horns of a dilemma: see horn N-COUNT

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. Quandary, strait, difficult choice, puzzling alternative, awkward or bad predicament.

Moby 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