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Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

pre·dic·a·ment

Audio Help [pri-dik-uh-muh

nt for 1, 3; pred-i-kuh-muh

nt for 2] Pronunciation Key

–noun

1.	an unpleasantly difficult, perplexing, or dangerous situation.

2.	a class or category of logical or philosophical predication.

3.	Archaic. a particular state, condition, or situation.

[Origin: 1350–1400; 1580–90 for def. 1; ME < LL praedicāmentum something predicated, asserted, deriv. of praedicāre.See predicate, -ment

]

—Related forms

pre·dic·a·men·tal

Audio Help [pri-dik-uh-men-tl, pred-i-kuh-] Pronunciation Key, adjective

pre·dic·a·men·tal·ly, adverb

—Synonyms 1. Predicament, dilemma, plight, quandary refer to unpleasant or puzzling situations. Predicament and plight stress more the unpleasant nature, quandary and dilemma the puzzling nature of the situation. Predicament and plight are sometimes interchangeable; plight, however, though originally meaning peril or danger, is seldom used today except laughingly: When his suit wasn't ready at the cleaners, he was in a terrible plight. Predicament, though likewise capable of being used lightly, may also refer to a really crucial situation: Stranded in a strange city without money, he was in a predicament. Dilemma, in popular use, means a position of doubt or perplexity in which one is faced by two equally undesirable alternatives: the dilemma of a hostess who must choose between offending her anti-drinking guests or disappointing those who expected cocktails. Quandary is the state of mental perplexity of one faced with a difficult situation: There seemed to be no way out of the quandary.

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
predicament

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

pre·dic·a·ment Audio Help (prĭ-dĭk'ə-mənt) Pronunciation Key
n.

A situation, especially an unpleasant, troublesome, or trying one, from which extrication is difficult. See Usage Note at dilemma.
Logic One of the basic states or classifications described by Aristotle into which all things can be placed; a category.

[Middle English, class, category, from Old French, from Late Latin praedicāmentum (translation of Greek katēgoriā, from katēgoreuein, to speak against, signify, predicate), from Latin praedicāre, to proclaim publicly, predicate; see preach.]

pre·dic'a·men'tal (-měn'tl) adj., pre·dic'a·men'tal·ly adv.

Synonyms: These nouns refer to a situation from which it is difficult to free oneself. A predicament is a problematic situation about which one does not know what to do: "Werner finds himself suddenly in a most awkward predicament" (Thomas Carlyle).
A plight is a bad or unfortunate situation: The report examined the plight of homeless people.
A quandary is a state of perplexity, especially about what course of action to take: "Having captured our men, we were in a quandary how to keep them" (Theodore Roosevelt).
Jam and fix are less formal terms that refer to predicaments from which it is difficult to escape: kids who were in a jam with the authorities; "If we get left on this wreck we are in a fix" (Mark Twain).
An informal term, a pickle is a disagreeable, embarrassing, or troublesome predicament: "I could see no way out of the pickle I was in" (Robert Louis Stevenson).

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Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
predicament

c.1380, "that which is asserted" (a term in logic), from M.L. predicamentum, from L.L. prædicamentum "quality, category, something predicted," from L. prædicatus, pp. of prædicare (see predicate), a loan-translation of Gk. kategoria, Aristotle's word. The meaning "unpleasant situation" is first recorded 1586.

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

predicament
noun
a situation from which extrication is difficult especially an unpleasant or trying one; "finds himself in a most awkward predicament"; "the woeful plight of homeless people"

Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
predicament [priˈdikəmənt] noun

an unfortunate or difficult situation

Arabic:	أزْمَه، مأزِق، ورْطَه
Chinese (Simplified):	困境
Chinese (Traditional):	困境
Czech:	obtížná situace
Danish:	knibe
Dutch:	hachelijke situatie
Estonian:	ohtlik olukord
Finnish:	pulmatilanne
French:	situation difficile
German:	mißliche Lage
Greek:	δύσκολη θέση
Hungarian:	kínos helyzet
Icelandic:	vandræði, klemma
Indonesian:	kesulitan, keadaan sulit
Italian:	(situazione difficile)

Japanese:	苦境
Korean:	곤경, 궁지
Latvian:	nepatīkama, *grūta situācija
Lithuanian:	kebli padėtis
Norwegian:	knipe, vanskelig situasjon
Polish:	kłopot
Portuguese (Brazil):	situação difícil
Portuguese (Portugal):	dilema
Romanian:	situaţie dificilă
Russian:	неприятное, затруднительное положение
Slovak:	nepríjemná , * ťažká situácia
Slovenian:	zadrega
Spanish:	apuro, aprieto, situación difícil
Swedish:	besvärlig situation (belägenhet), predikament
Turkish:	güç durum, açmaz

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Predicament

Pre*dic"a*ment\, n. [Cf. F. pr['e]dicament, L. praedicamentum. See Predicate.]

1. A class or kind described by any definite marks; hence, condition; particular situation or state; especially, an unfortunate or trying position or condition. "O woeful sympathy; piteous predicament!" --Shak.

2. (Logic) See Category.

Syn: Category; condition; state; plight.

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