predicament

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“
To think that this predicament is a surprise is preposterous.

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Definitions (9)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (3)

  1. noun A situation, especially an unpleasant, troublesome, or trying one, from which extrication is difficult. See Usage Note at dilemma.
  2. noun Logic One of the basic states or classifications described by Aristotle into which all things can be placed; a category.
  3. Syntax Note
    Synonyms: predicament, plight1, quandary, jam1, fix, pickle
    These nouns refer to a situation from which it is difficult to free oneself. A predicament is a problematic situation about which one does not know what to do: "Werner finds himself suddenly in a most awkward predicament” (Thomas Carlyle).
    A plight is a bad or unfortunate situation: The report examined the plight of homeless people.
    A quandary is a state of perplexity, especially about what course of action to take: "Having captured our men, we were in a quandary how to keep them” (Theodore Roosevelt).
    Jam and fix are less formal terms that refer to predicaments from which it is difficult to escape: kids who were in a jam with the authorities; "If we get left on this wreck we are in a fix” (Mark Twain).
    An informal term, a pickle is a disagreeable, embarrassing, or troublesome predicament: "I could see no way out of the pickle I was in” (Robert Louis Stevenson).

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Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (1)

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Examples (50)

  • In any case, the power responsible for his predicament was clearly not intending to make itself known, so he had to rely on his own instincts. —  F ;SF; - vol 090 issue 02 - February 1996
  • To explore further the inner workings of the financial system that has brought the world to this predicament is also to glimpse a future beyond financialisation. —  Propeller Most Popular Stories
  • Maggie (Bel Powley) is the most mature of the children, for whom their predicament is a reality that needs to be addressed, whose anger seeps out through a dark wit.
  • To think that this predicament is a surprise is preposterous. —  ScreenTalk
  • First, it's crucial to remember that our predicament is anything but unique. —  The Archdruid Report
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Roget's II Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

Allen's Allen's Synonyms and Antonyms

Used in the same context Used in the Same Context

dilemma ·  plight ·  happen ·  errand ·  ordeal ·  perplexity ·  muddle ·  malady ·  mishap ·  strait ·  quandary ·  mischance
Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (2)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Middle English, class, category, from Old French, from Late Latin praedicāmentum (translation of Greek katēgoriā, from katēgoreuein, to speak against, signify, predicate), from Latin praedicāre, to proclaim publicly, predicate; see preach.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (1)

  1. from Old French predicament, also prediquement, French prédicament = Spanish Portuguese Italian predicamento, from Late Latin prædicamentum, that which is predicated, a predicament, category, Middle Latin also a preaching, discourse, from Latin prædicare, declare, proclaim, predicate: see predicate. Cf. preachment, from the same ult. source.
 

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/prəˈdɪkəmənt/
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