Catch-22

US: /ˈkætʃˌtwɛntiˈtu/ ,(kach′twen′tē to̅o̅′)

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026

Catch-22 /ˈkætʃˌtwɛntiˈtu/   n., pl. Catch-22's, Catch-22s. 

1. a frustrating situation in which one is trapped by contradictory rules or conditions:
   [countable] You can't get a credit card unless you have a good credit rating. But to get a good credit rating, you need a credit card; it's a Catch-22.
   [uncountable] Any way you look at it, it's Catch-22.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026

Catch-22  (kach′twen′tē to̅o̅′), n., pl. Catch-22's, Catch-22s. 

1. a frustrating situation in which one is trapped by contradictory regulations or conditions.
2. any illogical or paradoxical problem or situation;
   dilemma.
3. a condition, regulation, etc., preventing the resolution of a problem or situation;
   catch.

• from a military regulation in a novel of the same name (1961) by U.south, southern. novelist Joseph Heller (born 1923)

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

catch-22 noun

1. a situation in which a person is frustrated by a paradoxical rule or set of circumstances that preclude any attempt to escape from them

Etymology: 20th Century: from the title of a novel (1961) by the US writer J. Heller (1923–99)