vicious circle

noun

1. Also called vicious cycle. a situation in which effort to solve a given problem results in aggravation of the problem or the creation of a worse problem:

   a vicious circle where the more I give them, the more they expect.

2. Logic.
   1. (in demonstration) the use of each of two propositions to establish the other.
   2. (in definition) the use of each of two terms to define the other.

vicious circle

noun

1. Alsovicious cycle a situation in which an attempt to resolve one problem creates new problems that lead back to the original situation
2. logic
   1. a form of reasoning in which a conclusion is inferred from premises the truth of which cannot be established independently of that conclusion
   2. an explanation given in terms that cannot be understood independently of that which was to be explained
   3. a situation in which some statement is shown to entail its negation and vice versa, as this statement is false is true only if false and false only if true
3. med a condition in which one disease or disorder causes another, which in turn aggravates the first condition

vicious circle

1. A series of reactions that compound an initial unfortunate occurrence or situation: “A person who is overweight is likely to feel frustrated and to deal with this frustration by eating more; it's a vicious circle.”

Word History and Origins

Origin of vicious circle¹

First recorded in 1785–95

Idioms and Phrases

A series of events in which each problem creates another and worsens the original one. For example, The fatter I get, the unhappier I am, so I eat to cheer myself up, which makes me fatter yet—it's a vicious circle . This expression comes from the French cercle vicieux , which in philosophy means “a circular proof”—that is, the proof of one statement depends on a second statement, whose proof in turn depends on the first. One writer suggests that the English meaning of “vicious” helped the expression acquire its more pejorative present sense, used since 1839.

Example Sentences

Raising the vaccination rate is the only way to break this vicious circle.

From Time

In the long term, the way out of this vicious circle we are in—and it is a vicious circle, we are stumbling from wave to lockdown, and that can't carry on ad infinitum—is only vaccination.

From The Daily Beast

Paul Theroux’s book, which was adapted as a feature film in 1986, is an allegory for the vicious circle of colonialism nested within an adventure narrative.

From Time

Either the peacemakers break the vicious circle, or the circle will become more vicious.

From The Daily Beast

White captures how lonely people get trapped in a vicious circle, shunning social events because being alone is more comfortable.

From The Daily Beast

The vicious circle was hard to break, for the Government was not strong or steady enough to repress all impartially.

From Project Gutenberg

A vicious circle is thus established and the demand for the stuff increases.

From Project Gutenberg

He has acted wisely in doing so; for this impossibility is based entirely on a vicious circle of reasoning.

From Project Gutenberg

But how is it that M. Montalembert does not see that he is placing himself in a vicious circle?

From Project Gutenberg

Who does not see that this is to define a thing by itself, a vicious circle?

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• chain reaction
• vicious cycle