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lesser of two evils

The somewhat less unpleasant of two poor choices. For example, I'd rather stay home and miss the picnic altogether than run into those nasty people—it's the lesser of two evils. This expression was already a proverb in ancient Greek and appeared in English by the late 1300s. Chaucer used it in Troilus and Cressida.

Words nearby lesser of two evils

lesser curvature of stomach, lesser dionysia, lesser dog, lesser ionic, lesser occipital nerve, lesser of two evils, lesser omentum, lesser palatine foramen, lesser palatine nerve, lesser panda, lesser peach tree borer
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.