Synonyms of deadlock

deadlock

noun

ˈded-ˌläk 

as in halt

a point in a struggle where neither side is capable of winning or willing to give in

the jury sent a note to the judge that it was hopelessly stuck in a deadlock

Synonyms & Similar Words

• halt
• impasse
• stalemate
• gridlock
• standstill
• standoff
• jam
• logjam
• predicament
• dilemma
• Mexican standoff
• problem
• bottleneck
• bind
• pickle
• quandary
• plight
• hole
• dead end
• quagmire
• corner
• morass
• fix
• difficulty
• pinch
• spot

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of deadlock

She was confirmed by the Senate in 2023 when former Vice President Kamala Harris cast a deciding vote to break a Senate deadlock. — Meg James, Los Angeles Times, 16 July 2026

Ali al-Zaidi, a businessman with no political background, emerged as a consensus candidate in Iraq after months of deadlock over the premiership following last year’s parliamentary elections. — ABC News, 14 July 2026

The deadlock was broken early by a thunderbolt of a shot from Denver Summit forward Yazmeen Ryan in the 14th minute. — Spencer Baldwin, Denver Post, 13 July 2026

Across 10 trials, the system achieved a 90 percent autonomous success rate with four robots and 70 percent with eight, while recovering from navigation errors and formation deadlocks without human assistance. — Jijo Malayil, Interesting Engineering, 10 July 2026