predicament

See also: prédicament

English

Alternative forms

• prædicament (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English predicament, from Old French predicament and Medieval Latin prēdicāmentum, from Late Latin praedicāmentum (“that which is predicated, a predicament, category”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pɹɪˈdɪkəmənt/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

Noun

predicament (plural predicaments)

1. A definite class, state or condition.
2. An unfortunate or trying position or condition.

   Synonyms: tight spot; see also Thesaurus:difficult situation

   • 1978, Daniel Bell, The Cultural Contradictions of Capitalism, page xv (20th edition):

     Culture, for me, is the effort to provide a coherent set of answers to the existential predicaments that confront all human beings in the passage of their life.

   • 2011 December 10, Marc Higginson, “Bolton 1 - 2 Aston Villa”, in BBC Sport‎^[1]:

     The Midlanders will hope the victory will kickstart a campaign that looked to have hit the buffers, but the sense of trepidation enveloping the Reebok Stadium heading into the new year underlines the seriousness of the predicament facing Owen Coyle's men.

3. (logic) That which is predicated; a category.

Related terms

• preach
• predicate

Translations

a definite class, state or condition

• Catalan: predicament (ca) m
• Dutch: klasse (nl)
• French: catégorie (fr) f, classe (fr) f, prédicament (fr) m
• Galician: predicamento (gl) m
• German: Kategorie (de) f
• Occitan: classa (oc) m, estat (oc) m, condicion (oc) f, predicament, categoria (oc) f
• Portuguese: predicamento m
• Russian: катего́рия (ru) f (kategórija)
• Spanish: predicamento (es)
• Ukrainian: катего́рія (uk) f (katehórija)

an unfortunate or trying position or condition

• Azerbaijani: sıxıntı
• Bulgarian: затруднение (bg) n (zatrudnenie)
• Catalan: compromís (ca) m, dilema m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 困境 (zh) (kùnjìng)

• Czech: svízel (cs) m, šlamastyka (cs) f
• Dutch: hachelijke situatie
• French: situation difficile f, situation délicate f, mauvaise passe (fr)
• German: Lage (de) f (missliche ~; unglückliche ~), Zwangslage (de) f, Dilemma (de) n, Zwickmühle (de) f, missliche Lage f
• Greek: παλιοκατάσταση (el) f (paliokatástasi)
• Hungarian: kutyaszorító (hu), slamasztika (hu), szorult/kínos/kellemetlen helyzet, baj (hu), gond (hu), kellemetlenség (hu)
• Italian: situazione difficile f
• Japanese: 窮地 (ja) (きゅうち, kyūchi)
• Maori: pōraruraru
• Norwegian: knipe (no)
• Polish: kłopotliwa sytuacja f
• Portuguese: apuro (pt) m
• Russian: затрудне́ние (ru) (zatrudnénije), затрудни́тельное положе́ние n (zatrudnítelʹnoje položénije), положение (ru) n (položenije)
• Spanish: aprieto (es), apuro (es)
• Swedish: predikament (sv) n, obehaglig situation c
• Ukrainian: скрута f (skruta), скрутне становище n (skrutne stanovyšče)

that which is predicated; a category

• French: catégorie (fr)
• German: Kategorie (de) f
• Hungarian: kategória (hu)
• Ukrainian: категорія (uk) f (katehorija)

See also

• can of worms
• difficulty
• kettle of fish
• tight spot
• trouble

Further reading

• “predicament”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “predicament”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
• predicament at OneLook Dictionary Search

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French prédicament, from Old French predicament, from Late Latin praedicāmentum.

Noun

predicament n (plural predicamente)

1. predicament

Declension

Declension of predicament

	singular		plural
	indefinite articulation	definite articulation	indefinite articulation	definite articulation
nominative/accusative	(un) predicament	predicamentul	(niște) predicamente	predicamentele
genitive/dative	(unui) predicament	predicamentului	(unor) predicamente	predicamentelor
vocative	predicamentule		predicamentelor