conundrum
Americannoun
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conundrums
plural
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a riddle, the answer to which involves a pun or play on words, as What is black and white and read all over? A newspaper.
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anything that puzzles.
noun
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a riddle, esp one whose answer makes a play on words
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a puzzling question or problem
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of conundrum
First recorded in 1590–1600; pseudo-Latin word of obscure origin
Explanation
The tricky word conundrum is used to describe a riddle or puzzle, sometimes including a play on words or pun. One of the most famous conundrums is the riddle of the Sphinx, famously in the play Oedipus the King by Sophocles. Oedipus encounters the Sphinx, a mythical beast, who asks him, "What walks on four legs in the morning, two in the afternoon, and three in the evening?" The answer is "A person": crawling as a child, walking as an adult, and using a cane in old age. The scary thing is that if the Sphinx asked you the riddle and you didn't know, she'd eat you!
Vocabulary lists containing conundrum
100 Top "SAT" Words
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In a Pickle: Words for When You're in Trouble
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100 SAT words Beginning with "C"
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
An easy conundrum: Be first in line for tickets, or watch them sell out like last year?
From Slate ● Nov. 12, 2026
It’s the eternal conundrum: we’re always too much or too little, and never just enough.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 7, 2026
The television ads case illustrates the conundrum of practical immunity.
From Salon ● Oct. 27, 2026
Florian Wirtz was instrumental as Liverpool returned to winning ways in the Premier League at Brentford on Saturday, but does the German playmaker remain boss Andoni Iraola's greatest conundrum?
From BBC ● Oct. 17, 2026
The conundrum, however, was that Miss Mallory had no idea where to put them.
From "A Tangle of Knots" by Lisa Graff
Watch your favorite trio give dilemmas like these the thoughtful, hilarious consideration they deserve, then challenge them with your own conundrums.
From Slate ● Nov. 12, 2026
In this way, “The Savage Mind” means to interrogate the unresolved, even unrecognized, conundrums of identity and race.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 20, 2026
Re-publishing what had been leaked by Pinto brought legal and ethical conundrums.
From BBC ● Sep. 26, 2026
Their work is a cultural bridge much like Ashitaka’s effort to bring the worlds of beasts and men together for a common cause, depicting what Miyazaki sees as one of humanism’s central conundrums.
From Salon ● Jul. 22, 2026
Perhaps, people being the conundrums that they are, and having so little desire to shoulder the burden of their lives, this is what will always happen.
From "The Fire Next Time" by James Baldwin
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
