prēˈdikəmənt, prə̇ˈd-, in sense 1 usually ˈpredə̇k- or ˈpredēk- noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English, from Late Latin praedicamentum, from praedicare to predicate + Latin -mentum -ment; translation of Greek katēgoria category
1. : the character, status, or classification assigned by a predication ; specifically : category 1
2. archaic : condition , state
3. : a difficult, perplexing, or trying situation : a position imposing a hard or unwelcome choice
everywhere he could observe, in new shapes and sizes, the old predicaments and follies of men — E.B.White
4. : a near near-fall in wrestling that scores one point for the aggressor
Synonyms:
dilemma , quandary , plight , scrape , fix , jam , pickle : predicament suggests a difficult situation bringing perplexity about best procedure for extrication, sometimes with lack of freedom to do what one would prefer
the predicament of our contemporary English drama, forced to deal almost exclusively with cases of sexual attraction, and yet forbidden to exhibit the incidents of that attraction or even to discuss its nature — G.B.Shaw
in the predicament with which our civilization now finds itself confronted — the problem, namely, how to find healthy, happy leisure for all the working millions who are now being liberated by machines from their day-long toils — L.P.Smith
dilemma may apply to a predicament extending a choice between equally unpleasant or unsatisfactory alternatives
a dilemma arose, when the weary emigrants came to a point where the stream forked, and no one knew which fork to follow — G.R.Stewart
his dilemma is that he can neither use his terms with the simple directness of the natural scientist pointing to physical factors, nor with the assurance of a philosopher who has some source for their meaning in the system from which he begins his deduction — R.M.Weaver
quandary may focus attention on puzzlement and perplexity without clear analysis between possible choices
he was in a greater quandary than ever. Lord, Lord, he thought, what had he got into? — Theodore Dreiser
plight may refer to any unfortunate, trying, or unhappy situation
why then discharge the men from the electric plant and then try to support them anyway, seeing that they are not likely to get other employment, or, if they do, will displace others who would be in a similar plight — M.R.Cohen
the plight of the ten million forgotten men and women living at or below the destitution level — R.H.S.Crossman
scrape may refer to a situation, often one in which one has involved oneself carelessly or rashly, from which he becomes disentangled with difficulty or loss, especially one impairing his reputation
other young clergymen, much greater fools in many respects than he, would not have got into these scrapes. He seemed to have developed an aptitude for mischief — Samuel Butler †1902
he escapes from trouble only to become idiotically conceited; and in the grip of conceit he plunges dementedly into a more ghastly scrape than the last — F.A.Swinnerton
fix and jam , informal words, stress involvement and entanglement from which extrication is difficult
I am … self-employed, and when you are in that fix you cannot tell when you are on vacation and when you are working — Frank Sullivan
they get sick and it puts them in a jam and they end up under a pile of bills — Hamilton Basso
pickle , now rather dated, may refer to any particularly embarrassing or sorry situation
I worked hard enough to earn my passage and my victuals. But when I was left ashore in Melbourne I was in a pretty pickle — G.B.Shaw
Synonym: see in addition class .