no-win situations
Damned either way
No-win situations are circumstances where every available choice leads to an undesirable outcome.
Whatever you do, you lose: She faced a no-win situation—speak up and be labeled difficult, stay quiet and be ignored.
The phrase often describes dilemmas where someone is unfairly trapped between equally bad options.
- deadlockMutual blocking, no progress
- checkmateInescapable capture position
- catch-22Paradoxical no-win situation
- rock and a hard placeSituation with only bad choices
- conundrumPerplexing problem or question
impasse · dilemma · quagmire · stalemate · gridlock · dead end · Pyrrhic victory · losing battle · futility · helplessness · ethical conflict · moral dilemma · zero-sum game · impossible choice · double bind · inevitability · knots · cul-de-sac
no-win situationssure things
Guaranteed outcomes
opportunities · golden opportunities · slam dunks · windfalls · lucky breaks
no-win situationsholding all the cards
Having every advantage
open doors · ways out · escape routes · leverage · choices
no-win situationsbest of both worlds
Having two advantages simultaneously
pick of the litter · embarrassment of riches · first-world problems · silver linings
wins, winning, winner, winners, winnable, unwinnable, situation, situations, situational