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Definition of predicament - 4 dictionary results

pre⋅dic⋅a⋅ment

  [pri-dik-uh-muhnt for 1, 3; pred-i-kuh-muhnt for 2]
Use predicament in a Sentence
–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  [pri-dik-uh-men-tl, pred-i-kuh-] , 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
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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pre·dic·a·ment   (prĭ-dĭk'ə-mənt)   
n.  
  1. A situation, especially an unpleasant, troublesome, or trying one, from which extrication is difficult. See Usage Note at dilemma.
  2. 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).
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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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.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : predicament
Spanish: apuro, aprieto, situación difícil,
German: mißliche Lage,
Japanese: 苦境
More Translations »

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.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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