vicious circle
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vicious circle
noun vicious circles
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A situation in which the response to one problem creates a chain of problems, each making it more difficult to solve the original one.
Meanwhile street congestion grows worse and the vicious circle tightens of private motor-cars which impede L.T.E. buses in Central London and of exasperated bus travellers who therefore take to using their own cars.
Similar: vicious cycle
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A fallacy in which the premise is used to prove a conclusion which is then used to prove the premise.
But historical materialism cannot tell us why one is important and not the other, except on the ground that it is able to account for the latter-and this is clearly a vicious circle.
Similar: begging the question, circular argument, petitio principii
Opposite: virtuous circle
Thesaurus
noun
Opposite: virtuous circle
Translations
Every language
noun situation in which the response to a problem creates another problem
| Español | círculo vicioso, pescadilla que se muerde la cola |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 악순환 aksunhwan, 악의 고리 ag-ui gori |
| 日本語 | 悪循環 akujunkan |
| 中文 | 惡性循環 /恶性循环 èxìng xúnhuán |
| हिन्दी | दुष्चक्र duṣcakra |
| Português | círculo vicioso |
| Français | cercle vicieux |
| Deutsch | Teufelskreis |
| Italiano | cerchio vizioso, circolo vizioso |
| Ελληνικά | φαύλος κύκλος fávlos kýklos |
| Română | cerc vicios |
| Русский | за́мкнутый круг zámknutyj krug, заколдо́ванный круг zakoldóvannyj krug, поро́чный круг poróčnyj krug |
noun fallacy
| 日本語 | 循環論法 junkanronpou |
|---|---|
| Deutsch | Zirkelschluss, Circulus vitiosus |
Talk about this word "vicious circle." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/vicious%20circle. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. vicious circle. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/vicious%20circle "vicious circle." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/vicious%20circle.Cite this
@misc{vicious_circle_2026,
title = {vicious circle},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/vicious%20circle},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
