quandary
Americannoun
-
quandaries
plural
noun
Synonym Usage
See predicament.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of quandary
First recorded in 1570–80; perhaps fancifully from Latin quand(ō) “when” + -āre infinitive suffix
Explanation
How to define the word quandary? Wow, this is quite a dilemma. What to do, what to do? Hmmm. Looks like this moment itself is a quandary: a tough situation that will be really hard to resolve. If you’re uncertain what to do because all of your options seem unpleasant, you’re probably in a quandary. Some voters find themselves in a quandary when they dislike all of the candidates. A more common quandary is when you plan two events at the same time and can’t decide which one to attend. Some synonyms are predicament, dilemma, plight, and pickle — and choosing which word to use is a quandary in itself.
Vocabulary lists containing quandary
In a Pickle: Words for When You're in Trouble
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300 Most Difficult "SAT" Words
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Grade 10, List 2
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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:
Jenner hates the paparazzi for invading her privacy but sees no moral quandary in collecting a check from Mark Zuckerberg, who wants to invade everyone’s privacy.
From Slate ● Aug. 5, 2026
That left McLaren with a quandary for although their cars were running one-two, the slower one was in the lead, and they were concerned about threats from behind.
From BBC ● Jul. 26, 2026
That’s the quandary faced by 49,000 residents living on the California side of Lake Tahoe, mostly in the city of South Lake Tahoe.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 19, 2026
However, he acknowledged YouTube is a particular quandary: its shifting sea of content makes real-time filtering nearly impossible, for Google or school districts.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 29, 2026
“Many times we have strong reasons to keep something like this secret. And I can’t tell you the reasons without giving away the secrets. Quite a quandary, isn’t it?”
From "Found" by Margaret Peterson Haddix
They will find themselves in the same stock-picking and market-timing quandaries they had initially set out to avoid—with potentially little ultimate benefit.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 22, 2026
So I put out a call: send me your Thanksgiving quandaries, your culinary existential crises, your “is this normal?” kitchen confessions.
From Salon ● Nov. 25, 2025
Despite the show skipping over some of the moral quandaries that arise from dating a pair of brothers, she appreciates how it deals with significant issues.
From BBC ● Sep. 13, 2025
That’s one of the quandaries at the center of Shields’ latest memoir about aging, “Brooke Shields Is Not Allowed to Get Old.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 12, 2025
For Howard, they would present some of the most difficult quandaries of his public life.
From "Seabiscuit: An American Legend" by Laura Hillenbrand
Definitions 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.
