Word
conundrum
Phoneticsco·nun·drum, stress on the second syllable
US/kəˈnəndɹəm/
UK/kənˈʌndɹəm/
Definitions
01a difficult problem
C1 · Advanced Countable noun Academic · Formal
n. a difficult problem or situation that is hard to solve or understand.
n. a confusing and difficult problem or question that presents a significant challenge to resolve.
“The government faces a conundrum: how to lower taxes while spending more on schools.”
“The ethical conundrum of how to balance individual privacy with public safety remains a central theme in modern political debate.”
Usage
Often used with the verb 'pose' or 'face'.
Teaching tip
While it can mean a literal riddle, in modern English it almost always refers to a complex practical or intellectual problem.
02a wordplay riddle
C2 · Proficiency Countable noun Literary · Archaic
n. a type of riddle or joke that uses a play on words.
n. a riddle whose answer involves a pun or play on words; the original sense of the term.
“The old book was full of Victorian conundrums that relied on clever puns.”
“The speaker opened his lecture with a classic conundrum, using the wordplay to illustrate the flexibility of the English language.”
Teaching tip
This sense is rare today; learners will mostly encounter the 'difficult problem' meaning in news and academic texts.
Real-World Examples
“The Cambridge-raised Badawy lays out his identity conundrum: he’s an Anglo-Egyptian Muslim who, as a pupil at a Christian school, was teased for his background.” “Can invisible watermarks solve the AI content conundrum?” Etymology
A word of unknown origin with several variants, gaining popularity for its burlesque imitation of scholastic Latin, as hocus-pocus or panjandrum. If there is more to its origin than a nonce coinage, Anatoly Liberman suggests the best theory is that connecting it with the Conimbricenses, 16th c. scholastic commentaries on Aristotle by the Jesuits of Coimbra which indulge heavily in arguments relying on multiple significations of words.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Exam level
- CambridgeCambridgeCambridge English QualificationsThe exam suite from Cambridge University Press & Assessment, from A1 Movers up to C2 Proficiency. The benchmark names double as CEFR labels.C1 AdvancedIELTSIELTSInternational English Language Testing SystemThe 0–9 band test co-owned by the British Council, IDP, and Cambridge. Used for university entry, work, and migration.7.0–8.0TOEFL iBTTOEFL iBTTest of English as a Foreign Language, Internet-Based TestETS's academic English test, the standard route for US university admissions. Scored 0–120, with a 1–6 scale since 2026.1–6 scale: 5.0–5.595–113TOEICTOEICTest of English for International CommunicationETS's workplace English test, big in Japan and Korea. Listening & Reading scores 10–990 and tops out at C1.945–990
- Frequency
- Occasional
- Level
- C1 · Advanced
- Updated
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QR code
englishreference.com/q/conundrum