[di.lem.ma] n [LL, fr. LGk dilemmat-, dilemma, prob. back-formation fr. Gk dilemmatos involving two assumptions, fr. di- + lemmat-, lemma assumption--more at lemma] (1523) 1: an argument presenting two or more equally conclusive alternatives against an opponent
2. a: a usu. undesirable or unpleasant choice "faces this ~: raise interest rates and slow the economy or lower them and risk serious inflation" b: a situation involving such a choice "here am I brought to a very pretty ~; I must commit murder or commit matrimony --George Farquhar"; broadly: predicament "lords and bailiffs were in a terrible ~ --G. M. Trevelyan" 3 a: a problem involving a difficult choice "the ~ of "liberty versus order" --J. M. Burns" b: a difficult or persistent problem "unemployment ... the great central ~ of our advancing technology --August Heckscher" -- dil.em.mat.ic adj usage Although some commentators insist that dilemma be restricted to instances in which the alternatives to be chosen are equally unsatisfactory, their concern is misplaced; the unsatisfactoriness of the options is usu. a matter of how the author presents them. What is distressing or painful about a dilemma is having to make a choice one does not want to make. The use of such adjectives as terrible, painful, and irreconcilable suggests that dilemma is losing some of its unpleasant force. There also seems to be a tendency esp. in sense 3b toward applying the word to less weighty problems "solved their goaltending ~ --Pat Calabria".