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predicament

noun

Simple meaning

An unfortunate or trying position or condition.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

prihdikuhmuhnt

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US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

pɹɪˈdɪkəmənt

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

noun

  1. An unfortunate or trying position or condition.

  2. logic

    A situation from which extrication is difficult especially an unpleasant or trying one

    “Finds himself in a most awkward predicament.”

  3. A definite class, state or condition.

  4. logic

    That which is predicated; a category.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
C2 · Proficient (estimated)
Frequency
Uncommon
Formality
Technical

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: An unfortunate or trying position or condition.

Used this way, predicament is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.

Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Moderately common
Connotation
Matter-of-fact
Usage feel
Neutral and straightforward

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

More ways to use predicament

  • “Finds himself in a most awkward predicament.”noun

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

human predicamentpresent predicamentsimilar predicamentcurrent predicamentawkward predicamenteconomic predicamentmodern predicament

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.