The captain of archers fidgeted and coughed and rolled his eyes at his men, as if such cupidity and dishonor were an inevitable but minor aspect of the human predicament … Michael Chabon, New York Times Magazine, 6 May 2007We saw photographs that week of buildings burning, stunned onlookers, dust-covered firemen. Very few pictures conveyed the fact that people just like us, our fellow passengers on the subway, suddenly found themselves in a mortal predicament and many died horribly. Garrison Keillor, New York Times Book Review, 3 Sept. 2006The President found himself in the backwash of earlier deals, and the demands of secrecy made his predicament the more vexing. Taylor Branch, Parting the Waters, 1988 The governor has gotten himself into quite a predicament. I don't know how to get out of the predicament I'm in.
Recent Examples on the WebLaughter can be subversive, of course, and one of the great satisfactions of these films is watching so many women laugh — often guffawing, not tittering — through one predicament after another.New York Times, 19 Aug. 2022 If anything, the outgoing trickle of particles worsens the predicament. George Musser, Scientific American, 17 Aug. 2022 The big discrepancy between recycling and access rates is partly explained by the predicament in which some disposal companies find themselves. Saabira Chaudhuri, WSJ, 17 Aug. 2022 But, this Netflix doc will show how Te'o's predicament went deeper than Facebook messages. Keith Nelson, Men's Health, 16 Aug. 2022 Neither homeownership nor renting are currently able to meet most people’s needs, wrote Andreessen in his post, a predicament that COVID made more complicated. Colin Lodewick, Fortune, 15 Aug. 2022 Coach Greg Wheeler confirmed Sunday his team’s predicament, which forced the cancellation of the Railroaders’ Week 1 trip to Akron North. Matt Goul, cleveland, 14 Aug. 2022 Strata had seen a Facebook post about Baker’s predicament and offered to help with the permit process. Andrew Mark Miller, Fox News, 13 Aug. 2022 How did the party, and the rest of us, get into this predicament anyway? Geoffrey Wheatcroft, The New Republic, 9 Aug. 2022 See More
Word History
Etymology
Middle English, from Late Latin praedicamentum, from praedicare — see predicateentry 2
ADJECTIVE | VERB + PREDICAMENT | PREPOSITIONADJECTIVE➤awful, difficult, dire, terrible, worse可怕的困境;尷尬的處境;悲慘的境況;更糟糕的處境◇Other companies are in an even worse predicament than ourselves.其他公司的處境甚至比我們的更糟糕。➤current, present目前的困境▸➤financial財政困境◇the team's dire financial predicament這支球隊嚴重的財政困境➤personal個人窘況➤similar相似的困境◇When I was your age, I was in a similar predicament.我在你這個年齡時處在相似的困境中。➤human人類困境◇a portrayal of the human predicament人類困境的寫照VERB + PREDICAMENT➤be caught in, be in, face, find yourself in, get into陷入/處於/面對/發現自己處於/進入困境◇Many young people find themselves in this predicament.許多年輕人都發現自己身處這一困境。➤place sb in, put sb in讓某人陷入困境▸➤escape, escape from, get out of擺脫困境◇How were we to escape this awful predicament?我們該如何擺脫這一可怕的困境?➤realize, understand認識/理解困境➤consider, ponder考慮/思考困境➤explain解釋困境◇She was searching for the right words to explain her predicament.她正在尋找合適的詞語來解釋她的困境。➤solve解決困境PREPOSITION➤in a/the predicament在困境中◇Now I really was in a dire predicament.現在我確實處境很悲慘。