Gordian knot

British  

/ ˈɡɔːdɪən /

noun

1. (in Greek legend) a complicated knot, tied by King Gordius of Phrygia, that Alexander the Great cut with a sword

2. a complicated and intricate problem (esp in the phrase cut the Gordian knot )

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Gordian knot Cultural  

1. A complex knot tied by a Greek king. According to legend, whoever loosed it would rule all Asia. Alexander the Great, according to some accounts, undid the Gordian knot by cutting through it with his sword.

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By extension, to “cut the Gordian knot” is to solve quickly any very complex problem or to get to the heart of a problem.

Example Sentences

Could the administration try to unravel this Gordian knot by suppressing prices and pushing for easy money?

From Barron's

Could the administration try to unravel this Gordian knot by suppressing prices and pushing for easy money?

From Barron's

If generations of diplomats viewed the post-Soviet challenges of Eastern Europe as a Gordian knot to be painstakingly unraveled, the president envisioned an easy fix: The borders matter less than the business.

From The Wall Street Journal

Shapiro dexterously untangles the Gordian knot of their entwined passions, shared ambitions and business bottom lines.

From Los Angeles Times

Essentially, by plugging the equations of the Standard Model into powerful computers, researchers can numerically approximate the mess of hadronic blobs, cutting through the subatomic Gordian knot.

From Scientific American

Related Words

• conundrum
• puzzle