conundrum

Meanings

1. 1nouncountable

   A difficult problem or puzzling situation that seems to have no easy answer.

   Grammar: Often used with a possessive or adjective: a real conundrum, the central conundrum.

   Patterns

   • a conundrum for someone
   • the conundrum of something
   • solve a conundrum

   How to pay for the repairs without raising rents is a real conundrum.

   The missing evidence left the detectives with a conundrum.

   She faced the conundrum of choosing between two good offers.

2. 2nouncountableold-fashioned

   A riddle or trick question whose answer depends on a clever play on words.

   Grammar: Older sense, now rarely heard outside puzzle books.

   Patterns

   • pose a conundrum
   • guess a conundrum

   The host posed a conundrum, and the guests argued over the answer.

   Victorian magazines were full of conundrums with punning solutions.

Word forms

Common combinations

moral conundrum

The doctor faced a moral conundrum about the treatment.

solve a conundrum

No one could solve the conundrum of the stolen painting.

pose a conundrum

The new law poses a conundrum for small businesses.

central conundrum

The central conundrum is how to cut costs without losing staff.

face a conundrum

Voters face a conundrum with two similar candidates.

Synonyms and how they differ

dilemma

A dilemma is a choice between two bad options, whereas a conundrum is a puzzling problem that may not involve a choice.

puzzle

Puzzle is lighter and can be a game, while conundrum suggests a serious, real-life difficulty.

riddle

A riddle has a clever answer waiting to be found, while a conundrum may have no answer at all.

quandary

A quandary describes the state of being unsure what to do, whereas conundrum names the problem itself.

Opposites

Commonly confused: conundrum or enigma?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “conundrum”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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