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Showing results for no-win situation. Search instead for real-life situations.
Synonyms

no-win situation

Idioms  

  1. A situation certain to end in failure or disappointment, as in If the in-laws visit them or they visit the in-laws, either way they see it as a no-win situation. [c. 1960]

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.

"They have got themselves into this no-win situation where Bashir's now become sort of unselectable and that's not a good thing," former England spinner Phil Tufnell told the Test Match Special podcast.

From BBC • Dec. 24, 2025

The end result: Renters get caught in something of a no-win situation.

From MarketWatch • Nov. 4, 2025

These tactics deeply annoyed Burns, and they also created a no-win situation for him.

From Slate • Sep. 5, 2025

“It is an absolute no-win situation but this is the best plan of attack and we don’t want anyone else hurt.”

From New York Times • May 30, 2023

It was a no-win situation for the 13 women who had passed the same testing as the men of the Mercury 7.

From "Women in Space" by Karen Bush Gibson

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.