conundrum

UK:*UK and possibly other pronunciationsUK and possibly other pronunciations/kəˈnʌndrəm/US:USA pronunciation: IPA and respellingUSA pronunciation: IPA/kəˈnʌndrəm/ ,USA pronunciation: respelling(kə nun′drəm)


WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025
co•nun•drum /kəˈnʌndrəm/USA pronunciation   n. [countable]
  1. Gamesa riddle whose answer involves a pun.
  2. anything that puzzles.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025
co•nun•drum  (kə nun′drəm),USA pronunciation n. 
  1. Gamesa riddle, the answer to which involves a pun or play on words, as What is black and white and read all over? A newspaper.
  2. anything that puzzles.
  • pseudo-Latin word of obscure origin, originally 1590–1600

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
conundrum / kəˈnʌndrəm/
  1. a riddle, esp one whose answer makes a play on words
  2. a puzzling question or problem
Etymology: 16th Century: of unknown origin
'conundrum' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
knot - riddle
Collocations: that's quite the conundrum (you have there), is [a difficult, an impossible] conundrum, has been one of the most difficult conundrums for [physicists, researchers] to overcome, more...

Forum discussions with the word(s) "conundrum" in the title:


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