catch-22

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Catch-22^¹

/ˌkætʃ ˌtwɛnti ˈtuː/

Where it comes from

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.

noun Catch-22s · catch-22

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.
Similar: Catch-22, dilemma, Hobson's choice, Morton's fork, no-win situation, quandary, Sophie's choice

catch-22^²

noun catch-22s

Alternative letter-case form of Catch-22 Research on Esperanto is accompanied by a dilemma that has the character of a catch-22 situation.

Translations

Every language

noun difficult situation

Español	problema circular
Português	beco sem saída
Deutsch	Zwickmühle, Dilemma, Teufelskreis, Sackgasse, ausweglose Situation

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Cite this

MLA

"catch-22." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/catch-22. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

catch-22. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/catch-22

Chicago

"catch-22." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/catch-22.

BibTeX

@misc{catch_22_2026,
  title = {catch-22},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/catch-22},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}