English Explanatory Dictionary

quandary

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. A state of not knowing what to decide; a state of difficulty or perplexity; a state of uncertainty, hesitation or puzzlement.
  2. A dilemma, a difficult decision or choice.
name
  1. A locality in the Temora council area, central New South Wales, Australia.

Pronunciation

/ˈkwɒn.də.ɹi/ /ˈkwɒn.dɹi/ /kwɒnˈdɛə.ɹɪ/ /ˈkwɑn.də.ɹi/ /ˈkwɑn.dɹi/ /ˈkwɔn-/ /ˈkwɔn.də.ɹi/ /ˈkwɔn.dɹi/ en-au-quandary.ogg

Word forms

quandary quandaries

Etymology

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 vándr (“difficult, requiring pains and care”).

Synonyms

perplexity pickle predicament uncertainty dilemma Catch-22 Hobson's choice Morton's fork no-win situation quandary Sophie's choice ass in a sling bind bucket of syrup calvary cauldron cross cross to bear difficulty dire straits doghouse fix hole jam kettle kettle of fish ordeal pinch plight quagmire situation spot spot of bother sticky situation sticky wicket tight spot trouble

Related words

doubt indecision dilemma
This entry uses open data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA/GFDL). Word forms are used for search and are not indexed as separate pages.
Back to search All on Q Russian dictionary Dahl dictionary