DOUBLE BIND Synonyms: 24 Similar and Opposite Words

double bind

noun

as in dilemma

a situation in which one has to choose between two or more equally unsatisfactory choices the double bind faced by every politician: responding to scurrilous charges only gives them unwarranted publicity; not responding to such charges is often interpreted as an admission of guilt

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Recent Examples of double bind This double bind can be traumatic. —

Hind Haddad, The Conversation, 30 Sep. 2025 Now they're caught in a double bind: 85% of the mineral fertilizer potash used by American farmers comes from Canada, while our northern neighbor also provides a quarter of farmers' nitrogen needs. —

Phil Lempert, Forbes.com, 13 Sep. 2025 During the Biden Presidency, the government faced a double bind with Venezuelans: Their country, run by a vicious dictator and beset by a humanitarian crisis, had for years refused to accept deportations from the U.S. —

Jonathan Blitzer, New Yorker, 8 Sep. 2025 That leaves the consumer in a double bind: still resilient, but increasingly forced to be discerning, particularly in a world where prices perniciously creep up. —

Eva Roytburg, Fortune, 29 Aug. 2025 See All Example Sentences for double bind

Recent Examples of Synonyms for double bind

Noun

Readers send Miss Manners not only their table and party questions, but those involving the more complicated aspects of life - romance, work, family relationships, child-rearing, death - as well as philosophical and moral dilemmas.

— Judith Martin, Dallas Morning News, 30 Mar. 2026
For the present, we’re saddled with the unwieldy dilemma of there being eight major Democratic candidates and just two Republicans.

— Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 30 Mar. 2026