catch-22

catch–22

noun

Definition of CATCH-22

1

a danger or difficulty that is hidden or not easily recognized <the drug lowers cholesterol, but the catch-22 is that it mainly lowers good cholesterol>

Synonyms booby trap, catch, catch-22, gimmick, gotcha, hitch, joker, land mine, snag

Related Words snare, trap, trip wire, web; hazard, peril, risk; bomb, bombshell, kicker, surprise (also surprize); bait, decoy, lure

2

a difficult, puzzling, or embarrassing situation from which there is no easy escape <the catch-22 faced by every first-time loan applicant: how to get a loan without a credit history>

Synonyms bind, box, catch-22, corner, dilemma, fix, hole, impasse, jackpot [chiefly West], jam, mire, pickle, quagmire, rabbit hole, rattrap, spot, sticky wicket, swamp

Related Words difficulty, node; hot water, soup; pinch, plight, quandary, scrape, trouble; deadlock, halt, logjam, stalemate, standstill; clutch, crisis, crossroad, emergency, exigency, juncture, strait

3

a situation in which one has to choose between two or more equally unsatisfactory choices <an environmental catch-22: building wind farms results in scenic eyesores; not building wind farms results in greater pollution from fossil fuels>

Synonyms catch-22, double bind, quandary

Related Words deadlock, impasse, quagmire, stalemate, standoff; knot, problem; bind, difficulty, fix, hole, jam, pickle, pinch, plight, predicament, spot

Near Antonyms breeze, cinch, duck soup, snap

Ask The Editor Videos

 

2014 Word of the Year: Behind the Scenes

 

How the Months Got Their Names

 

Webster's Dictionary of 1864

 

Old-School Grammar

 

Schwa

 

That vs. Which

 

i.e. vs. e.g.

 

Longest Word in the Dictionary

           

Seen & Heard

What made you want to look up catch-22? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).