Predicament vs Cause - What's the difference?
predicament | cause | Related terms |
A definite class, state or condition.
An unfortunate or trying position or condition; a tight spot.
* {{quote-book
, year=1978
, author=
, title=The Cultural Contradictions of Capitalism
, page=xv (20th edition)
, passage=Culture, for me, is the effort to provide a coherent set of answers to the existential predicaments that confront all human beings in the passage of their life.}}
* {{quote-news
, year=2011
, date=December 10
, author=Marc Higginson
, title=Bolton 1 - 2 Aston Villa
, work=BBC Sport
(logic) That which is predicated; a category.
The source of, or reason for, an event or action; that which produces or effects a result.
* , chapter=5
, title= A goal, aim or principle, especially one which transcends purely selfish ends.
* Shakespeare
* Burke
(obsolete) Sake; interest; advantage.
* Bible, 2 Corinthians vii. 12
(obsolete) Any subject of discussion or debate; a matter; an affair.
* Shakespeare
(legal) A suit or action in court; any legal process by which a party endeavors to obtain his claim, or what he regards as his right; case; ground of action.
To set off an event or action.
*
* {{quote-magazine, title=A better waterworks, date=2013-06-01, volume=407, issue=8838
, page=5 (Technology Quarterly), magazine=(The Economist)
To actively produce as a result, by means of force or authority.
* Bible, (w) vii.4
* , chapter=13
, title= To assign or show cause; to give a reason; to make excuse.
Predicament is a related term of cause.
As a noun predicament
is a definite class, state or condition.As a verb cause is
.predicament
English
Alternative forms
* (chiefly obsolete)Noun
(en noun)citation, page= , passage=The Midlanders will hope the victory will kickstart a campaign that looked to have hit the buffers, but the sense of trepidation enveloping the Reebok Stadium heading into the new year underlines the seriousness of the predicament facing Owen Coyle's men.}}
Synonyms
* See alsoSee also
* can of worms * difficulty * kettle of fish * tight spot * troubleReferences
* * *cause
English
Noun
(en noun)- Her wedding will be cause for celebration.
- They identified a burst pipe as the cause of the flooding.
The Mirror and the Lamp, passage=He was thinking; but the glory of the song, the swell from the great organ, the clustered lights, […], the height and vastness of this noble fane, its antiquity and its strength—all these things seemed to have their part as causes of the thrilling emotion that accompanied his thoughts.}}
- God befriend us, as our cause is just.
- The part they take against me is from zeal to the cause .
- I did it not for his cause .
- What counsel give you in this weighty cause ?
Synonyms
* (source or reason) reason, sourceDerived terms
* because * causal * causality * causative * cause celebre * efficient cause * final cause * for cause (law) * formal cause * material causeSee also
* effectVerb
(caus)- Serene, smiling, enigmatic, she faced him with no fear whatever showing in her dark eyes.She put back a truant curl from her forehead where it had sought egress to the world, and looked him full in the face now, drawing a deep breath which caused the round of her bosom to lift the lace at her throat.
citation, passage=An artificial kidney these days still means a refrigerator-sized dialysis machine. Such devices mimic
- I will cause it to rain upon the earth forty days.
The Mirror and the Lamp, passage=And Vickers launched forth into a tirade very different from his platform utterances. He spoke with extreme contempt of the dense stupidity exhibited on all occasions by the working classes. He said that if you wanted to do anything for them, you must rule them, not pamper them. Soft heartedness caused more harm than good.}}
- (Spenser)