lesser of two evils

Idioms  

1. 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.

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Example Sentences

A wary Tinseltown reluctantly coalesced around the Netflix bid, seeing it as the lesser of two evils, but Paramount's willingness to stump up ever greater sums eventually saw the streamer withdraw.

From Barron's • May 13, 2026

She said she had felt that was "the lesser of two evils" and that she had been scared because she did not know what he could do.

From BBC • Aug. 18, 2022

"It's the lesser of two evils," says Tallamy.

From Salon • May 28, 2022

A contest that somehow boiled down to the lesser of two evils, or streaming services, in which voters ultimately opted for the Apple+ release rather than allowing Netflix’s “Dog” to have its day.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 27, 2022

Eventually Massasoit concluded that he possibly should ally with them—compared to the Narragansett, they were the lesser of two evils.

From "1491" by Charles C. Mann