Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A state of uncertainty or perplexity. See Synonyms at predicament.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. A state of difficulty or perplexity; a state of uncertainty, hesitation, or puzzlement; a pickle; a predicament.
- To put into a quandary; bring into a state of uncertainty or difficulty.
- To be in a difficulty or uncertainty; hesitate.
Wiktionary
- n. A state of not knowing what to decide; a state of difficulty or perplexity; a state of uncertainty, hesitation or puzzlement; a pickle; a predicament.
- n. A dilemma, a difficult decision or choice.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. A state of difficulty or perplexity; doubt; uncertainty.
- v. obsolete To bring into a state of uncertainty, perplexity, or difficulty.
WordNet 3.0
- n. state of uncertainty or perplexity especially as requiring a choice between equally unfavorable options
- n. a situation from which extrication is difficult especially an unpleasant or trying one
Etymologies
- 16th century. Origin unknown; perhaps a dialectal corruption (simulating a word of Latin origin with suffix -ary) of wandreth ("evil, plight, peril, adversity, difficulty"), from Middle English wandreth, from Old Norse vandræði ("difficulty, trouble"), from vandr ("difficult, requiring pains and care"). (Wiktionary)
- Origin unknown. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“The United States should encourage the Arab League to not only endorse the continuation of direct talks at this critical juncture, but also be more creative, take the initiative and change the dynamic of the negotiations regardless of how the settlement quandary is resolved.”
“The answer to your quandary is that you always have an “opportunity to respond” at this blog.”
“If Larry Johnson's situation gets resolved, the quarterback quandary is successfully solved and the defense continues to improve, a fan would have reason for cautious optimism.”
“The easiest way to solve that quandary is to bring fantasy baseball into the world of modern statistical analysis.”
“I suppose my quandary is this: James is the one applying for the visa.”
“Hapthorn's quandary is that the men of Olkney have been robbed of their wealth, looks and intelligence, possibly because of the presence of magic.”
“And then we have the quandary: is this fact worth reporting in the wake of the level of anger already there?”
“Europe†™ s offer of petrol places Bush in quandary”
“Part of West Africa's quandary is that although its population belts are horizontal, with habitation densities increasing as one travels south away from the Sahara and toward the tropical abundance of the Atlantic littoral, the borders erected by European colonialists are vertical, and therefore at cross-purposes with demography and topography.”
“I’m in a quandary, is the bigger crime giving this guy a camera, a computer, fingers or taste buds?”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘quandary’.
-
Test Prep or Just for fun
Building a list for standardized test prep or just for learning some new words! Please add any words that you feel are important for the SAT/GRE/GMAT etc...
throng, morass, parley, facile, kismet, strife, jetsam, carrion, annex, harbinger, vestige, surreptitious and 575 more...
-
GRE Barrons Wordlist
A complete Barron's Wordlist for GRE preparation. Your online flashcard replacement.
abase, abash, abate, abbreviate, abdicate, aberrant, aberration, abet, abeyance, abhor, abject, abjure and 4087 more...
-
Interesting words
A list of words that are odd or words that I have looked up.
concupiscence, brize, scree, scoria, forestaff, spanaemia, valetudinarianism, distasture, pyrethrum, laudanum, gentian, bicameral and 11184 more...
-
GRE 2014
abase, abate, abdicate, aberrant, abeyance, abhor, abjure, abortive, abound, abrasive, abreast, abridge and 1577 more...
-
SAT Words
But only the ones that I don't already know.
abase, abash, abominate, abstruse, acclivity, accolade, accost, adroit, adulate, adulterate, adumbrate, affray and 241 more...
-
fancy essay words
hiatus, ontology, exegesis, hermeneutics, dialectics, demiurge, ascertain, contention, eschatological, synecdoche, centripetal, centrifugal and 96 more...
-
big book gre
abase, abbess, abbey, abbot, abdicate, abdomen, abdominal, abduction, abed, aberration, abet, abeyance and 6691 more...
-
gre2
aberrant, aberration, aboveboard, abrasive, abstemious, acme, admonish, affable, affluent, alacrity, allegory, alleviate and 1908 more...
-
Quandary
pickle, conundrum, mare's nest, riddle, stumper, imbroglio, quandary, quagmire, dilemma, puzzle, enigma, arcanum and 4 more...
-
SAT Words
But only the ones that I don't already know.
abase, abash, abominate, abstruse, acclivity, accolade, accost, adroit, adulate, adulterate, adumbrate, affray and 241 more...
-
Words
teeter, headlong, reprobate, canard, ersatz, prevaricate, trenchant, minatory, fatuous, stultify, vitiate, fulminate and 135 more...
-
Magoosh GRE
its a list of words borrowed from Magoosh GRE blog ,an indispensable resource for GRE test takers.
inimitable, exiguity, myriad, cornucopia, surfeit, glut, deluge, opaque, pellucid, grandiloquent, turgid, gadfly and 106 more...
-
SAT Vocab
Redundant.
problematic, proclivity, prodigal, prodigious, prodigy, profane, profligate, profound, profusion, proliferation, prolific, prologue and 455 more...
-
princeton review
jubilance, obtrusive, maladjusted, prodigious, incredulous, stolidity, inured, stoicism, sidereal, boisterous, etiolated, circumscribed and 90 more...
-
Vocab
Words that I come across, and go blank, or want to clarify.
nefarious, edifice, malevolent, ostensible, folderol, bauble, livid, amnesty, calculus, saddlery, maisonette, cuisse and 423 more...
-
List Erine
cool mint antiseptic
shalom, cattywampus, bourgeoisie, aerophile, traverse, grotto, epicurean, ex cathedra, nautilus, epitaph, lathe, continuum and 753 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for quandary.
Comments
No comments yet...
Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.