Dilemma vs Situation - What's the difference?
dilemma | situation |
A circumstance in which a choice must be made between two or more alternatives that seem equally undesirable.
* Jonathan Swift
A difficult circumstance or problem.
(logic) A 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".
(rhetoric) Offering to an opponent a choice between two (equally unfavorable) alternatives.
*
The way in which something is positioned vis-à-vis its surroundings.
* 1908 , (Kenneth Grahame), (The Wind in the Willows) :
The place in which something is situated; a location.
* 1833 , Thomas Hibbert and Robert Buist, The American Flower Garden Directory , page 142:
Position or status with regard to conditions and circumstances.
The combination of circumstances at a given moment; a state of affairs.
*
, title=(The Celebrity), chapter=5
, passage=Then we relapsed into a discomfited silence, and wished we were anywhere else. But Miss Thorn relieved the situation by laughing aloud, and with such a hearty enjoyment that instead of getting angry and more mortified we began to laugh ourselves, and instantly felt better.}}
(UK, dated) A position of employment; a post.
* 1913 , , (Sons and Lovers) , Penguin 2006, page 78:
* 1946 , Vaughn Horton, Denver Darling, Milt Gabler, :
A difficult or unpleasant set of circumstances; a problem.
As nouns the difference between dilemma and situation
is that dilemma is a circumstance in which a choice must be made between two or more alternatives that seem equally undesirable while situation is the way in which something is positioned vis-à-vis its surroundings.dilemma
English
Noun
(en-noun)- A strong dilemma in a desperate case! / To act with infamy, or quit the place.
Usage notes
* The sense of a difficult circumstance or problem is considered non-standard[by whom?]. * Occasionally spelled/misspelled as dilemna'', perhaps originally via false analogy with words such as ''condemn'', ''solemn'', and ''hymn . This spelling has been reportedly taught in many regions of Great Britain and the United States as well as around the world; and can be found in the works of many well-known authors (e.g. Watts, Defroe & Goldsmith).World Wide Words: Dilemma
Synonyms
* (circumstance in which a choice must be made between two alternatives) * (any difficult circumstance) bind, fix, pickle, problem, quandary * (logic) * (rhetoric) * See alsoDerived terms
* on the horns of a dilemmaSee also
* * between a rock and a hard place * between the devil and the deep blue sea * between Scylla and Charybdis * Buridan's assReferences
Anagrams
* ----situation
English
Alternative forms
* scituationNoun
(en noun)- ...he being naturally an underground animal by birth and breeding, the situation of Badger's house exactly suited him and made him feel at home; while the Rat, who slept every night in a bedroom the windows of which opened on a breezy river, naturally felt the atmosphere still and oppressive.
- [Hibíscus] speciòsus is the most splendid, and deserves a situation in every garden.
- When he was nineteen, he suddenly left the 'Co-op' office, and got a situation in Nottingham.
- You take a morning paper from the top of the stack
- And read the situations from the front to the back
- The only job that's open need a man with a knack
- So put it right back in the rack Jack.
- Boss, we've got a situation here...
