dilemma
UK/daɪˈlɛmə/
More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations
Australia/dɑeˈlemə/
dilemma noun: a circumstance in which a choice must be made between two or more alternatives that seem equally undesirable.
Noun
dilemma (plural dilemmas or dilemmata)
- A circumstance in which a choice must be made between two or more alternatives that seem equally undesirable.
- A strong dilemma in a desperate case! / To act with infamy, or quit the place.1731, Jonathan Swift, An Epistle to Mr. Gay
- Any difficult circumstance or problem.
- Synonyms:
- bind, fix, pickle, problem, quandary, ass in a sling, bucket of syrup, calvary, cauldron, cross
- 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".
- Offering to an opponent a choice between two (equally unfavorable) alternatives.
dilemma meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
dilemma in Hindi
- circumstance in which a choice must be made between two alternatives
- दुविधा duvidhā, संशय sañśay, असमंजस asmañjas
- difficult circumstance
- दुविधा duvidhā, असमंजस asmañjas, संशय sañśay
dilemma in Tamil
- இரண்டக நிலை, இரண்டகநிலை, இருதலைக் கொள்ளி எறும்பு நிலை, ஈரட்டியான நிலை ஐயப்பாடுடைய, குழப்ப நிலை, இக்கட்டு
dilemma in Marathi
- दुविधा, द्विधा मनःस्थिती, द्विधा मनस्थिती
dilemma in Urdu
- دقت, درنگ, کش مکش, مشکل, پھیر, شاخسانہ
More languagesFewer languages
- dilemma in Bengali
- অকষ্টবদ্ধ ôkôśṭôbôddhô
- dilemma in Telugu
- విచికిత్స vicikitsa
- dilemma in Malayalam
- ധർമ്മസങ്കടം dhaṟmmasaṅkaṭaṁ
- dilemma in Kannada
- ಇಕ್ಕಟ್ಟು, ಉಭಯಸಂಕಟ, ಸಂದಿಗ್ಧ ಸನ್ನಿವೇಶ, ಸಂದಿಗ್ಧ ಪರಿಸ್ಥಿತಿ
- dilemma in Punjabi
- ਦੁਬਿਧਾ
- dilemma in Gujarati
- દ્વિધા dvidhā
- dilemma in Nepali
- दुविधा
- dilemma in Tagalog
- awampili
- dilemma in Arabic
- مُعْضِلَة muʕḍila, مِحْنَة miḥna
- dilemma in Persian
- دوراهی dorâhi, مشکل moškel
Examples of dilemma in a sentence
- He approached the moral dilemma casuistically, not abstractly from first principles.
- An unstated assumption of the prisoner’s dilemma is that the parties will actually make a deal.
- It was with great intrepitude that they were able to overcome the dilemma.
Synonyms of dilemma
25 more synonymsFewer synonyms
Forms of dilemma
| plural | dilemmas |
|---|---|
| plural | dilemmata |
Origin of dilemma
PIE word *dwóh₁ First attested 1523, from Late Latin dilemma, from Ancient Greek δίλημμα (dílēmma, “ambiguous proposition”), from δι- (di-, “having two of”) + λῆμμα (lêmma, “premise, proposition”), equivalent to di- + lemma.
Words formed from dilemma
Words that rhyme with dilemma
- lemma
- trilemma
- gemma
- stremma
- ack emma
- emma
- on the horns of a dilemma
- Pema
- pip emma
- problema
- quadrilemma
- tetralemma
1 more rhymesFewer rhymes
Questions about dilemma
- What does dilemma mean?
- Dilemma means a circumstance in which a choice must be made between two or more alternatives that seem equally undesirable.
- What is dilemma in Hindi?
- Dilemma in Hindi is दुविधा (duvidhā), संशय (sañśay), असमंजस (asmañjas). See Dilemma meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is dilemma?
- Dilemma is a noun.
- How do you pronounce dilemma?
- Dilemma is pronounced /daɪˈlɛmə/ (UK).
- What is the plural of dilemma?
- The plural of dilemma is dilemmas.
Words near dilemma in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: dilemma (page history and authors); dilemma (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); dilemma (Marathi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); dilemma (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); অকষ্টবদ্ধ (Bengali) (page history and authors); dilemma (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); dilemma (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); દ્વિધા (Gujarati) (page history and authors); dilemma (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-dilemma.ogg.
Cite this entry: “dilemma.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/dilemma. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.