A circumstance in which a choice must be made between two or more alternatives that seem equally undesirable.
A strong dilemma in a desperate case! / To act with infamy, or quit the place.
A type of syllogism of the form "if A is true then B is true; if C is true then D is true; either A or C is true; therefore either B or D is true".
PIE word *dwóh₁ First attested 1523, from Late Latin dilemma, from Ancient Greek δίλημμα (dílēmma, “ambiguous proposition”), from δι- (di-, “having two of”) + λῆμμα (lêmma, “premise, proposition”).
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