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

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

Both Colombia and Switzerland had opportunities to break the deadlock, but the final, decisive movements were lacking. — Kyle Feldscher, CNN Money, 7 July 2026

The same might be said by the fans who saw Congo stymie Portugal, Cabo Verde deadlock with Spain, or Haiti blast in two goals against Morocco. — Albert Samaha, New Yorker, 6 July 2026