Word.ws English Dictionary

two envelopes problem

two envelopes problem proper noun: a puzzle of this kind: "You are given two indistinguishable envelopes, each containing money; one contains twice as much as the other. You may pick one envelope and keep the money it contains. Having chosen an envelope at will, but before inspecting it, you are given the chance to switch envelopes. Should you switch?" Because you stand to gain twice as much money if you switch while risking only a loss of half of what you currently have, it is possible to argue (fallaciously) that it is beneficial to switch.

Proper noun

the the two envelopes problem

  1. A puzzle of this kind: "You are given two indistinguishable envelopes, each containing money; one contains twice as much as the other. You may pick one envelope and keep the money it contains. Having chosen an envelope at will, but before inspecting it, you are given the chance to switch envelopes. Should you switch?" Because you stand to gain twice as much money if you switch while risking only a loss of half of what you currently have, it is possible to argue (fallaciously) that it is beneficial to switch.

Synonyms of two envelopes problem

Questions about two envelopes problem

What does two envelopes problem mean?
Two envelopes problem means a puzzle of this kind: "You are given two indistinguishable envelopes, each containing money; one contains twice as much as the other. You may pick one envelope and keep the money it contains. Having chosen an envelope at will, but before inspecting it, you are given the chance to switch envelopes. Should you switch?" Because you stand to gain twice as much money if you switch while risking only a loss of half of what you currently have, it is possible to argue (fallaciously) that it is beneficial to switch.
What part of speech is two envelopes problem?
Two envelopes problem is a proper noun.

Words near two envelopes problem in the dictionary

  1. two cheeks of the same arse
  2. two child problem
  3. two children problem
  4. two commas
  5. Two Egg
  6. two envelopes problem
  7. two fat ladies
  8. two fifths
  9. two fingers
  10. two fingers up
  11. two for flinching

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: two envelopes 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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