A Dilemma
<ol style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, "Nimbus Sans L", Arial, "Liberation Sans", sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; list-style-position: inside; list-style-image: initial; color: rgb(34, 34, 34);"><li style="margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial;">A <a href="https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/circumstance" title="circumstance" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; color: rgb(107, 75, 161);">circumstance</a> in which a choice must be made between two or more <a href="https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/alternative" title="alternative" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; color: rgb(107, 75, 161);">alternatives</a> that seem equally <a href="https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/undesirable" title="undesirable" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; color: rgb(107, 75, 161);">undesirable</a>.</li><li style="margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial;">A difficult circumstance or <a href="https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/problem" title="problem" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; color: rgb(107, 75, 161);">problem</a>.</li><li style="margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial;"><span class="ib-brac" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial;">(</span><span class="ib-content" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: italic; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial;"><a href="https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/logic" title="logic" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; color: rgb(107, 75, 161);">logic</a></span><span class="ib-brac" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial;">)</span> A type of <a href="https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/syllogism" title="syllogism" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; color: rgb(107, 75, 161);">syllogism</a> 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".</li><li style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: inherit; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial;"><span class="ib-brac" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial;">(</span><span class="ib-content" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: italic; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial;"><a href="https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/rhetoric" title="rhetoric" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; color: rgb(107, 75, 161);">rhetoric</a></span><span class="ib-brac" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial;">)</span> Offering to an opponent a choice between two (equally unfavorable) alternatives.</li></ol><h4 class="in-block" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0.5em 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.3; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, "Nimbus Sans L", Arial, "Liberation Sans", sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word; display: table; color: rgb(34, 34, 34);"><span class="mw-headline" id="Usage_notes" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: middle; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; display: table-cell; width: 272px;">Usage notes</span><span class="mw-editsection" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: middle; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; display: table-cell;"><a href="https://en.m.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=dilemma&action=edit&section=5" title="Edit section: Usage notes" data-section="5" class="mw-ui-icon mw-ui-icon-element mw-ui-icon-minerva-edit-enabled edit-page" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.5em; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; color: rgb(107, 75, 161); position: relative; min-height: 1.5em; min-width: 3.5em; text-indent: -999px; overflow: hidden; width: 3.5em; max-width: 3.5em; display: inline-block;">Edit</a></span></h4><ul style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, "Nimbus Sans L", Arial, "Liberation Sans", sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; list-style: square outside; color: rgb(34, 34, 34);"><li style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: inherit; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial;">Occasionally spelled/misspelled as <i style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial;">dilemna</i>, perhaps originally via false analogy with words such as <i style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial;"><a href="https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/condemn" title="condemn" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; color: rgb(107, 75, 161);">condemn</a></i>, <i style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial;"><a href="https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/solemn" title="solemn" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; color: rgb(107, 75, 161);">solemn</a></i>, and <i style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial;"><a href="https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/hymn" title="hymn" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; color: rgb(107, 75, 161);">hymn</a></i>. 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. Isaac Watts, Defoe & Goldsmith).<sup id="cite_ref-1" class="reference" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.75em; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/dilemma#cite_note-1" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; color: rgb(107, 75, 161);">[1]</a></sup></li></ul><h4 class="in-block" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0.5em 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.3; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, "Nimbus Sans L", Arial, "Liberation Sans", sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word; display: table; color: rgb(34, 34, 34);"><span class="mw-headline" id="Synonyms" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: middle; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; display: table-cell; width: 272px;">Synonyms</span><span class="mw-editsection" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: middle; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; display: table-cell;"><a href="https://en.m.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=dilemma&action=edit&section=6" title="Edit section: Synonyms" data-section="6" class="mw-ui-icon mw-ui-icon-element mw-ui-icon-minerva-edit-enabled edit-page" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.5em; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; color: rgb(107, 75, 161); position: relative; min-height: 1.5em; min-width: 3.5em; text-indent: -999px; overflow: hidden; width: 3.5em; max-width: 3.5em; display: inline-block;">Edit</a></span></h4><ul style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, "Nimbus Sans L", Arial, "Liberation Sans", sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; list-style: square outside; color: rgb(34, 34, 34);"><li style="margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial;"><span class="ib-brac qualifier-brac" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial;">(</span><span class="ib-content qualifier-content" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: italic; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial;">circumstance in which a choice must be made between two alternatives</span><span class="ib-brac qualifier-brac" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial;">)</span></li><li style="margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial;"><span class="ib-brac qualifier-brac" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial;">(</span><span class="ib-content qualifier-content" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: italic; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial;">any difficult circumstance</span><span class="ib-brac qualifier-brac" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial;">)</span></li><li style="margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial;"><span class="ib-brac qualifier-brac" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial;">(</span><span class="ib-content qualifier-content" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: italic; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial;">logic</span><span class="ib-brac qualifier-brac" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial;">)</span></li><li style="margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial;"><span class="ib-brac qualifier-brac" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial;">(</span><span class="ib-content qualifier-content" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: italic; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial;">rhetoric</span><span class="ib-brac qualifier-brac" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial;">)</span></li></ul>