Catch-22 en · NOUN
Pronunciation
- (Southern-England) audio
- /ˌkætʃ ˌtwɛnti ˈtuː/
Etymology
Coined by American writer Joseph Heller in 1961 in his novel Catch-22, in which the main character feigns madness in order to avoid dangerous combat missions, but his desire to avoid them is taken to prove his sanity.
Meanings
-
(idiomatic) A difficult situation from which there is no escape because it involves mutually conflicting or dependent conditions.
For us it’s been a real Catch-22: when we have the time to take a vacation, we don’t have enough money, and when we have enough money, we don’t have the time.
That can make A.I. feel like something of a Catch-22 for workers: If the technology succeeds in reshaping the economy, they could lose their jobs. If it fails to live up to the hype, their retirement savings could evaporate.
2026 June 13, Ben Casselman, “Wages Are Falling. Wealth Is Surging. No Wonder Americans Are Unhappy.”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:Overall, the subgrouping issue in S[ino-]T[ibetan] studies is plagued by a familiar Catch-22. Until a more complete reconstruction of P[roto-]S[ino-]T[ibetan] exists, it is difficult to accurately identify shared innovations. Yet, without a clear subgrouping, it is difficult to properly weight and evaluate data from the daughter languages in order to refine PST reconstructions.
2008, Zev Handel, “What is Sino-Tibetan? Snapshot of a Field and a Language Family in Flux”, in Language and Linguistics Compass, volume 2, number 3, →DOI, pages 422-441:Herein lies my personal “Catch 22”; the choice between three hours sleep and some discomfort or six hours sleep and real pain. Usually I choose the lesser evil of insomnia because in addition to the pain at 6am, I am incapacitated by the hangover from the sedative.
1988, E[dward] J[ames] Moran Campbell, Not Always on the Level, [London]: British Medical Journal, →ISBN, page 194:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| catch-22 | alternative | lexicographic | |
| Catch-22s | Number=Plur | lexicographic |
Relateds
CATCH 22 syndrome · deadlock · dilemma
Synonyms
Morton's fork · dilemma · Sophie's choice · Hobson's choice · no-win situation · quandary · Catch-22
Translations (20)
de Dilemma (difficult situation) · pl Paragraf 22 (difficult situation) · cs Hlava XXII (difficult situation) · pt beco sem saída (difficult situation) · de Zwickmühle (difficult situation) · pl błędne koło (difficult situation) · cs Hlava 22 (difficult situation) · eo dilemo (difficult situation) · hu kilátástalan/megoldhatatlan helyzet (difficult situation) · de Teufelskreis (difficult situation) · es problema circular (difficult situation) · tr kısırdöngü (difficult situation) · sv moment 22 (difficult situation) · bg Параграф 22 (difficult situation) · hu csapdahelyzet (difficult situation) · pl paradoks literacki (difficult situation) · bg параграф 22 (difficult situation) · hu a 22-es csapdája (difficult situation) · de Sackgasse (difficult situation) · de ausweglose Situation (difficult situation)