dilemmadi‧lem‧ma /dəˈlemə, daɪ-/ ●●○ noun [countable] 
a moral dilemmain a dilemma I’m in a dilemma about this job offer. This placed Robert Kennedy in a dilemma. Many women are faced with the dilemma of choosing between work and family commitments. → be on the horns of a dilemma at horn1(6)COLLOCATIONSverbsbe in a dilemma· After years of recession, the company was in a dilemma over its future.face a dilemma/be faced with a dilemma· Women may still be faced with the dilemma of choosing between jobs and families.pose/create a dilemma· The difficult economic situation poses a dilemma for investors.put/place somebody in a dilemma· His divided loyalties placed him in a dilemma.resolve/solve a dilemma· People often need help with resolving their dilemmas.explain your dilemma (=talk about it)· He explained his dilemma to me.adjectivesa difficult/serious dilemma· He was in a serious dilemma because neither option seemed very desirable.a terrible dilemma· She was in a terrible dilemma because she loved both men.a moral/ethical/political etc dilemma· Doctors face a moral dilemma over how long to prolong someone's life.a personal dilemma· The men who were on strike faced a personal dilemma over whether to return to work.a painful dilemma (=a very difficult one)· She faced the painful dilemma of having to decide whether to tell the police about her son's crimes.a common/familiar dilemma (=one that a lot of people have)· Deciding whether to put an elderly parent in a nursing home is a common dilemma.the central dilemma (=the main one)· The prime minister's central dilemma was whether war was justified.phrasesa way out of a dilemma (=a way to solve it)· There seemed to be no way out of the dilemma.a solution to a dilemma (=a way to solve it)· One possible solution to the dilemma may be to divide the money equally between the brothers.
WORD ORIGINdilemma
Origin:
1500-1600 Greek ‘double statement’, from lemma ‘statement’EXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
- It is a common dilemma: Should you stay where you have friends and family, or take that good job in a far-away city?
- Many single parents struggle with the dilemma of dividing time between work and children.
- With a child on each opposing team, Dad was faced with a dilemma: which supporters should he sit with?
- Writers are debating the ethical dilemma raised by the parents who did not want their Siamese twins separated.
- Another unforeseen dilemma which now surfaced was how to satisfy the demands of the new customers for winter-weight, or seasonal clothes.
- But last week's global stock market slump underscores the cartel's dilemma.
- I explained the dilemma to a friend.
- Peace campaigners in the 1980s, and animal-rights and environmental groups in the 1990s, faced this dilemma.
- Snipes gives a brilliant performance as a man caught in a moral dilemma.
- The first dilemma has been discussed: the managers gradually learned that their subordinates varied extensively in skill and motivation.
- This happens when the employee learns to escape the personal dilemma temporarily by devoting more effort to his or her job.
Longman Language Activatoran extremely difficult or complicated problem
a situation in which it is very difficult to decide what to do, because all the choices seem equally good or equally bad: · It is a common dilemma: Should you stay where you have friends and family, or take that good job in a far-away city?face a dilemma: · With a child on each opposing team, Dad was faced with a dilemma: which supporters should he sit with? ethical dilemma: · Writers are debating the ethical dilemma raised by the parents who did not want their Siamese twins separated.
a situation in which you cannot do one thing until you do another thing, but you cannot do that thing until you do the first thing, with the result that you can do neither: · It's catch-22 -- she can't get a job unless she has experience, and she can't get experience unless she has a job.a catch-22 situation: · It's a catch-22 situation: The project won't receive government money until it is shown to be successful, but it cannot be successful without adequate funds.
a situation in which something bad will happen whatever you decide to do: · It's a no-win situation -- if I tell him, he'll be upset, but if I don't he'll be mad at me for not telling him.· Hospitals are in a no-win situation, since protecting patients' privacy may conflict with protecting the health of doctors, nurses, and other hospital workers.
a difficult situation in which you do not know which of two things was the cause of the other and which was the result, because neither could exist if the other did not: · We all hate lawyers, but they're in business because so many people sue each other: it's a classic chicken-and-egg situation.· The airport faces a chicken-and-egg dilemma: Airlines won't add more flights unless there is more demand, and there won't be more demand until there are more flights.
a situation in which one problem causes another problem, that then causes the first problem again, so that the whole process continues to be repeated: · Many people who diet put on even more weight when they stop, creating a vicious circle.· More and more teenagers are caught in a vicious circle of drug addiction and crime.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE ENTRYverbs And herein lies the key to their achievements.
· After years of recession, the company was in a dilemma over its future.
· Women may still be faced with the dilemma of choosing between jobs and families.
· The difficult economic situation poses a dilemma for investors.
· His divided loyalties placed him in a dilemma.
· People often need help with resolving their dilemmas.
(=talk about it)· He explained his dilemma to me.
adjectives· He was in a serious dilemma because neither option seemed very desirable.
· She was in a terrible dilemma because she loved both men.
· Doctors face a moral dilemma over how long to prolong someone's life.
· The men who were on strike faced a personal dilemma over whether to return to work.
(=a very difficult one)· She faced the painful dilemma of having to decide whether to tell the police about her son's crimes.
(=one that a lot of people have)· Deciding whether to put an elderly parent in a nursing home is a common dilemma.
(=the main one)· The prime minister's central dilemma was whether war was justified.
phrases (=a way to solve it)· There seemed to be no way out of the dilemma.
(=a way to solve it)· One possible solution to the dilemma may be to divide the money equally between the brothers.
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES And herein lies the key to their achievements. (=a difficult decision for moral reasons)· Doctors face a moral dilemma when a patient can be kept alive but has no chance of real recovery.
(=cause a situation in which it is very difficult to decide what to do)· In the future, the possibility of genetic testing on unborn children will pose a dilemma for parents.
· Can you solve my dilemma?
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSADJECTIVE· It is an even bigger dilemma at the ideology-setting level, which relates more to strategic movement.
· Yet, once the doctrine of consideration has been abandoned, the central dilemma of choice theories becomes even more obvious.· The central dilemma of the war was embodied in these considerations.· The central dilemma the Committee faced was how to achieve a balance in company boards between strong direction and accountability.· She endlessly debates the central dilemma in her life.
· For over a decade I lived with this new knowledge and with the ethical dilemma surrounding my own pursuit of insider research.· How everyone has relished the moral, ethical and legal dilemmas.
· His moral dilemmas now appear in novels such as Schindler's Ark, his 1982 Booker prizewinner.· Snipes gives a brilliant performance as a man caught in a moral dilemma.· Different moral considerations might apply for different people in the face of similar moral dilemmas.· When a clinical situation poses a genuine moral dilemma, by definition no right answer exists.· The boy presented me with a moral dilemma.· There are plenty of moral dilemmas.· It takes no account of the moral dilemmas of human life.· Dante wrote that the hottest room in hell is reserved for those who remain neutral in times of great moral dilemma.
· They have felt misunderstood and scapegoated, quite unprepared for the political and social dilemmas in which they were caught.· To me, that campaign epitomized the political dilemma facing feminists.· Thus a political dilemma has re-emerged.· Instead, they take a hard look at a difficult moral and political dilemma and find no easy answers.· But this is only a tongue-tip taste of the political dilemma Harrison faces.· Both these factors interrelate with a third major political dilemma: the succession to political leadership.
· Nor do they deal with the real dilemmas of participation that have been the focus of considerable research.· The only real dilemma, besides parking, is choosing which acts to see.· I was now faced with a real dilemma.· This posed a real dilemma for administrators.
VERB· Winkler sees the administration in the corporatist state as confronted by two dilemmas.· When the time comes for him to write his next report, Blue is forced to confront this dilemma.· When they hand out grades, and give or with-hold promotion, teachers are inescapably confronted with this dilemma.· When 1 first came to work for the network, I was confronted with a nasty dilemma.
· Falun Gong's decision to stage demonstrations here has created a vexing dilemma for Hong Kong officials and business leaders.
· They had dealt with the normative dilemma: should they stay at home or not after the child was born?· Even the fashion of interdisciplinary studies can not really deal with the dilemma.· Nor do they deal with the real dilemmas of participation that have been the focus of considerable research.
· This is no longer the case: scientists today are facing a similar dilemma!· The task force chair, Robert Spitzer, was then faced with a dilemma.· The managerial dilemmas Managers are paid more than workers because they face constant dilemmas which they have to resolve.· In the decades to come, presidents would face the dilemma of what to do about gifts.· But here we are faced with a dilemma.· But now I face another dilemma.· Blues-lovers such as myself face a dilemma.· This sprawling town faces no shortage of dilemmas as it oozes toward the millennium.
· Yet these brighter prospects pose their own dilemma.· When Joe was asked to join the First Family each year for Christmas dinner, it posed a dilemma.· This deliberate emphasis on the young people's unreliable and hurtful past relationships poses a dilemma for residential workers.· When a clinical situation poses a genuine moral dilemma, by definition no right answer exists.· This posed a dilemma for him.· Federal disinvestment posed a serious dilemma for distressed cities.· This poses a dilemma for the Fed.· But it also poses problems and dilemmas which occur in communications policy more widely.
· Such bodies present us with a dilemma.
· The managerial dilemmas Managers are paid more than workers because they face constant dilemmas which they have to resolve.· And the protagonists sounded fairly confident in their attempts to resolve the dilemma.· The observational data show that Easton's neighbourhood police have two recipes for resolving this dilemma and its associated conundrum.· Her brief from the state there was to resolve the dilemma.· In resolving the many dilemmas of structure, solutions may only be temporary.· In practice settings, those involved are often struggling to find ways of resolving the dilemmas they face.· An argument with a colleague clarified and resolved the dilemma.· I have never completely resolved my own dilemma, for I do not think it has a simple resolution.
· I am so pleased that we have solved the dilemma and we can feel morally superior!· Low-performing enterprises solve this dilemma by ignoring or denying potential qualitative costs.· The students say they've put forward new ideas which could solve the dilemma.· No mere textual reading or logical talisman can solve the dilemma.· Oh, it brings plenty of its own unique disappointment and despair, but nothing to solve the dilemma of today.
PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
a situation in which it is very difficult to decide what to do, because all the choices seem equally good or equally bad: - Stirling, who had come direct from Eighth Army Headquarters, was on the horns of a dilemma.
a moral dilemmain a dilemma I’m in a dilemma about this job offer. This placed Robert Kennedy in a dilemma. Many women are faced with the dilemma of choosing between work and family commitments. → be on the horns of a dilemma at horn1(6)COLLOCATIONSverbsbe in a dilemma· After years of recession, the company was in a dilemma over its future.face a dilemma/be faced with a dilemma· Women may still be faced with the dilemma of choosing between jobs and families.pose/create a dilemma· The difficult economic situation poses a dilemma for investors.put/place somebody in a dilemma· His divided loyalties placed him in a dilemma.resolve/solve a dilemma· People often need help with resolving their dilemmas.explain your dilemma (=talk about it)· He explained his dilemma to me.adjectivesa difficult/serious dilemma· He was in a serious dilemma because neither option seemed very desirable.a terrible dilemma· She was in a terrible dilemma because she loved both men.a moral/ethical/political etc dilemma· Doctors face a moral dilemma over how long to prolong someone's life.a personal dilemma· The men who were on strike faced a personal dilemma over whether to return to work.a painful dilemma (=a very difficult one)· She faced the painful dilemma of having to decide whether to tell the police about her son's crimes.a common/familiar dilemma (=one that a lot of people have)· Deciding whether to put an elderly parent in a nursing home is a common dilemma.the central dilemma (=the main one)· The prime minister's central dilemma was whether war was justified.phrasesa way out of a dilemma (=a way to solve it)· There seemed to be no way out of the dilemma.a solution to a dilemma (=a way to solve it)· One possible solution to the dilemma may be to divide the money equally between the brothers.