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Synonyms for dilemma

Grammar : Noun
Spell : dih-lem-uh
Phonetic Transcription : dɪˈlɛm ə

Top 10 synonyms for dilemma
Other synonyms for the word dilemma

Définition of dilemma

Origin :
  • 1520s, from Late Latin dilemma, from Greek dilemma "double proposition," a technical term in rhetoric, from di- "two" + lemma "premise, anything received or taken," from root of lambanein "to take" (see analemma). It should be used only of situations where someone is forced to choose between two alternatives, both unfavorable to him. But even logicians disagree on whether certain situations are dilemmas or mere syllogisms.
  • noun crisis
Example sentences :
  • I hesitated and tried to think of some safe way out of the dilemma.
  • Extract from : « Biography of a Slave » by Charles Thompson
  • A prudent person, lapsing into a dilemma, is specially discomfitted.
  • Extract from : « Weighed and Wanting » by George MacDonald
  • Lady Pierrepoint saw this, and coolly held her in this dilemma.
  • Extract from : « Tales And Novels, Volume 5 (of 10) » by Maria Edgeworth
  • Joseph was now reduced to a dilemma which extremely puzzled him.
  • Extract from : « Joseph Andrews Vol. 1 » by Henry Fielding
  • But our Smithsonian systematizer will allow us neither horn of this dilemma.
  • Extract from : « Life: Its True Genesis » by R. W. Wright
  • So, in this dilemma, I had recourse to a piece of jesuitry, of which I was not a little proud.
  • Extract from : « Henry Dunbar » by M. E. Braddon
  • The Mercutian sensed their dilemma as they crouched on the stairs.
  • Extract from : « Slaves of Mercury » by Nat Schachner
  • In this dilemma, therefore, he addressed himself to John Effingham for counsel.
  • Extract from : « Homeward Bound » by James Fenimore Cooper
  • Home again in November, 1832, Morse found himself on the horns of a dilemma.
  • Extract from : « The Age of Invention » by Holland Thompson
  • But now we began to perceive that we were between the horns of a dilemma.
  • Extract from : « Brighter Britain! (Volume 1 of 2) » by William Delisle Hay

Antonyms for dilemma

Based on : Thesaurus.com - Gutenberg.org - Dictionary.com - Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019