Skip to main content
All words

noun

conundrum

a confusing and difficult problem or question

In a sentence

Six example sentences with conundrum, each labelled with its topic.

  • The third floor ends in a conundrum of four levers and one door, with no clue anywhere about which order opens it.

    Gaming

  • If a ship keeps its name after every plank is replaced, students meet a conundrum that two thousand years have not settled.

    Philosophy

  • Every cache design runs into the same conundrum, since keeping data fresh and keeping it fast pull in opposite directions.

    Technology

  • Central banks face a conundrum when prices rise while jobs vanish, since the cure for one worsens the other.

    Economics

  • Guarding a seven-foot shooter is a conundrum, since sagging off invites a three and closing out invites a drive.

    Basketball

  • Every marketplace startup faces the same conundrum: buyers will not come without sellers, and sellers wait for buyers.

    Startups

Study conundrum until you keep it

Sign up freeOr start learning, no sign-up →

Learn English words in sentences about topics you pick, with a quick quiz. With an account, words come back for review.

Found in these word lists

Found in 8 published word listsRecognized

Each source is a published word list that contains conundrum. No exam board publishes an official GRE, GMAT or SAT list; GMAT words come from GRE lists and the Academic Word List.

More GMAT words