Meanings
noundilemma (plural dilemmas or dilemmata)
plural dilemmas · plural 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, bind, bucket of syrup
- human sciencesA 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".
- rhetoricOffering to an opponent a choice between two (equally unfavorable) alternatives.
Synonyms & antonyms
nounAny difficult circumstance or problem.
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nounstate of uncertainty or perplexity especially as requiring a choice between equally unfavorable options
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Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Ancient Greekδίλημμα“ambiguous proposition”
- Late Latindilemma
- Englishdilemma
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.
More words from Late Latin, Ancient Greek
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek δίλημμα
- δίλημμα (dílēmma)circumstance in which a choice must be made between two alternatives
Arabic مُعْضِلَة, مِحْنَة
- مُعْضِلَة (muʕḍila)circumstance in which a choice must be made between two alternatives
- مِحْنَة (miḥna)difficult circumstance
- مُعْضِلَة (muʕḍila)in logic
Bulgarian диле́ма, или-или
- диле́ма (diléma)circumstance in which a choice must be made between two alternatives
- или-или (ili-ili)circumstance in which a choice must be made between two alternatives
Catalan dilema, dilema
- dilemacircumstance in which a choice must be made between two alternatives
- dilemadifficult circumstance
Chinese Mandarin 困境, 進退兩難的境地 /进退两难的境地
- 困境 (kùnjìng)circumstance in which a choice must be made between two alternatives
- 進退兩難的境地 /进退两难的境地 (jìntuìliǎngnán de jìngdì)circumstance in which a choice must be made between two alternatives
- 兩難 /两难 (liǎngnán)circumstance in which a choice must be made between two alternatives
- 窘境 (jiǒngjìng)difficult circumstance
- 困境 (kùnjìng)difficult circumstance
- 二難推理 /二难推理 (èrnántuīlǐ)in logic
Czech dilema
- dilemacircumstance in which a choice must be made between two alternatives
Dutch dilemma
- dilemmacircumstance in which a choice must be made between two alternatives
Esperanto dilemo, dilemo
- dilemocircumstance in which a choice must be made between two alternatives
- dilemodifficult circumstance
- dilemoin logic
Finnish dilemma, dilemma
- dilemmacircumstance in which a choice must be made between two alternatives
- dilemmadifficult circumstance
- pulmadifficult circumstance
- dilemmain logic
French dilemme
- dilemmecircumstance in which a choice must be made between two alternatives
German Dilemma
- Dilemmacircumstance in which a choice must be made between two alternatives
Greek δίλημμα
- δίλημμα (dílimma)circumstance in which a choice must be made between two alternatives
Hebrew דילמה, דילמה
- דילמה (diléma)circumstance in which a choice must be made between two alternatives
- דילמה (diléma)difficult circumstance
- דילמה (diléma)in logic
Hindi दुविधा, संशय
- दुविधा (duvidhā)circumstance in which a choice must be made between two alternatives
- संशय (sañśay)circumstance in which a choice must be made between two alternatives
- असमंजस (asmañjas)circumstance in which a choice must be made between two alternatives
- दुविधा (duvidhā)difficult circumstance
- असमंजस (asmañjas)difficult circumstance
- संशय (sañśay)difficult circumstance
Hungarian dilemma
- dilemmacircumstance in which a choice must be made between two alternatives
Icelandic valkreppa, valtvenna
- valkreppacircumstance in which a choice must be made between two alternatives
- valtvennacircumstance in which a choice must be made between two alternatives
- valþröngcircumstance in which a choice must be made between two alternatives
- ógöngur (sbr. ógöngurök, ógöngurökfærsla)circumstance in which a choice must be made between two alternatives
Irish aincheist
- aincheistcircumstance in which a choice must be made between two alternatives
Italian dilemma, dilemma
- dilemmacircumstance in which a choice must be made between two alternatives
- dilemmadifficult circumstance
Japanese ジレンマ
- ジレンマ (jirenma)circumstance in which a choice must be made between two alternatives
Korean 딜레마
- 딜레마 (dillema)circumstance in which a choice must be made between two alternatives
Latin dilemma
- dilemmacircumstance in which a choice must be made between two alternatives
Persian دوراهی, مشکل
- دوراهی (dorâhi)circumstance in which a choice must be made between two alternatives
- مشکل (moškel)difficult circumstance
Polish dylemat, dylemat
- dylematcircumstance in which a choice must be made between two alternatives
- dylematdifficult circumstance
- dylematin logic
Portuguese dilema, dilema
- dilemacircumstance in which a choice must be made between two alternatives
- dilemadifficult circumstance
- dilemain logic
Romanian dilemă
- dilemăcircumstance in which a choice must be made between two alternatives
Russian диле́мма, диле́мма
- диле́мма (dilémma)circumstance in which a choice must be made between two alternatives
- диле́мма (dilémma)difficult circumstance
Scottish Gaelic aincheist, imcheist
- aincheistcircumstance in which a choice must be made between two alternatives
- imcheistdifficult circumstance
Slovak dilema
- dilemacircumstance in which a choice must be made between two alternatives
Spanish dilema, disyuntiva
- dilemacircumstance in which a choice must be made between two alternatives
- disyuntivacircumstance in which a choice must be made between two alternatives
- dilemadifficult circumstance
- dilemain logic
Swedish dilemma
- dilemmacircumstance in which a choice must be made between two alternatives
Tagalog awampili
- awampiliin logic
Turkish ikilem, dilemma
- ikilemcircumstance in which a choice must be made between two alternatives
- dilemmacircumstance in which a choice must be made between two alternatives
Ukrainian диле́ма
- диле́ма (dyléma)circumstance in which a choice must be made between two alternatives
Yiddish דילעמע
- דילעמע (dileme)circumstance in which a choice must be made between two alternatives
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with dilemma
emmalemmagemmaproblemaPematremaack emmaon the horns of a dilemmapip emmaquadrilemmastremmatetralemmatrilemma
All rhymes →Anagrams
Cite this entry
APA
dilemma. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dilemma
MLA
“dilemma.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dilemma. Accessed November 4, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “dilemma,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dilemma.
Source: dilemma on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.