conundrum
Americannoun
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conundrums
plural
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a riddle, the answer to which involves a pun or play on words, as What is black and white and read all over? A newspaper.
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anything that puzzles.
noun
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a riddle, esp one whose answer makes a play on words
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a puzzling question or problem
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of conundrum
First recorded in 1590–1600; pseudo-Latin word of obscure origin
Explanation
The tricky word conundrum is used to describe a riddle or puzzle, sometimes including a play on words or pun. One of the most famous conundrums is the riddle of the Sphinx, famously in the play Oedipus the King by Sophocles. Oedipus encounters the Sphinx, a mythical beast, who asks him, "What walks on four legs in the morning, two in the afternoon, and three in the evening?" The answer is "A person": crawling as a child, walking as an adult, and using a cane in old age. The scary thing is that if the Sphinx asked you the riddle and you didn't know, she'd eat you!
Vocabulary lists containing conundrum
100 Top "SAT" Words
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In a Pickle: Words for When You're in Trouble
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100 SAT words Beginning with "C"
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
That’s the conundrum that millions of people your age face.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 13, 2026
That way, the Kane conundrum is likely to be passed on to one of his successors.
From BBC ● Oct. 7, 2026
Thus, the conundrum of Winfrey’s terribly consequential influence.
From Salon ● Sep. 27, 2026
Solomon has compared his conundrum to Detroit’s fiscal crisis more than a decade ago, although that city plunged into bankruptcy.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 6, 2026
In that conundrum would lie the deeper injury the controversy caused the university in general and the Rad Lab in particular.
From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik
While there are positive signs, it is obvious some conundrums remain the same for Djokovic.
From BBC ● Jan. 27, 2026
He answered listener conundrums, including which Gabfest host would make the best dictator and what pastry he’d like to be reincarnated as.
From Slate ● Dec. 18, 2025
Email your pairing conundrums, etiquette queries and other pressing questions on bottles for the holiday table to [email protected].
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 30, 2025
Award-winning biographer Wilson approaches the life of Scottish writer Muriel Spark as a series of puzzles and conundrums to be teased out.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 2, 2025
Perhaps, people being the conundrums that they are, and having so little desire to shoulder the burden of their lives, this is what will always happen.
From "The Fire Next Time" by James Baldwin
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
