Word.ws English Dictionary

trolley problem

trolley problem noun: a type of thought experiment in ethics and psychology, involving ethical dilemmas of whether to sacrifice one person to save a larger number.

Noun

trolley problem (plural trolley problems)

  1. A type of thought experiment in ethics and psychology, involving ethical dilemmas of whether to sacrifice one person to save a larger number.
    • By the late ‘90s, trolley problems had fallen out of fashion. Many philosophers questioned the value of the conclusions reached by analyzing a situation so bizarre and specific.2015 October 9, Lauren Cassani Davis, “Would You Pull the Trolley Switch? Does it Matter?”, in The Atlantic

Forms of trolley problem

pluraltrolley problems

Origin of trolley problem

Coined by American philosopher Judith Thomson. The problems usually involve deciding whom to save from an approaching trolley that can be diverted but not stopped.

Questions about trolley problem

What does trolley problem mean?
Trolley problem means a type of thought experiment in ethics and psychology, involving ethical dilemmas of whether to sacrifice one person to save a larger number.
What part of speech is trolley problem?
Trolley problem is a noun.
What is the plural of trolley problem?
The plural of trolley problem is trolley problems.

Words near trolley problem in the dictionary

  1. trolley off
  2. trolley park
  3. trolley parks
  4. trolley pole
  5. trolley poles
  6. trolley problem
  7. trolley problems
  8. trolley trasher
  9. trolley trashers
  10. trolley-dollies
  11. trolley-dolly

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: trolley problem (page history and authors). 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.

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