situation
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: enpr: sĭt-yo͞o-ā'shən
enpr: sĭch-o͞o-ā'shən
ipa: /ˌsɪt.juːˈeɪ.ʃən/
ipa: /ˌsɪ.t͡ʃuˈeɪ.ʃən/
rhymes: -eɪʃən
Forms: form: situations
form: scituation
Etymology: From Middle English situacioun, situacion, from Middle French situation, from Medieval Latin situatio (“position, situation”), from situare (“to locate, place”), from Latin situs (“a site”). By surface analysis, situate + -ion.
Senses: examples: text: The United States is in an awkward situation with debt default looming.
text: Then we relapsed into a discomfited silence, and wished we were anywhere else. But Miss Thorn relieved the situation by laughing aloud, and with such a hearty enjoyment that instead of getting angry and more mortified we began to laugh ourselves, and instantly felt better.
ref: 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter V, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:
glosses: The combination of circumstances at a given moment; a state of affairs.
examples: text: The Botanical Gardens are in a delightful situation on the river bank.
text: […]he being naturally an underground animal by birth and breeding, the situation of Badger's house exactly suited him and made him feel at home; while the Rat, who slept every night in a bedroom the windows of which opened on a breezy river, naturally felt the atmosphere still and oppressive.
ref: 1908 October, Kenneth Grahame, The Wind in the Willows, New York, N.Y.: Charles Scribner’s Sons, →OCLC:
glosses: The way in which something is positioned vis-à-vis its surroundings.
glosses: The place in which something is situated; a location.
glosses: 1833, Thomas Hibbert, Robert Buist, The American Flower Garden Directory, page 142
glosses: 1833, Thomas Hibbert, Robert Buist, The American Flower Garden Directory, page 142:
[Hibíscus] speciòsus is the most splendid, and deserves a situation in every garden.
[Hibíscus] speciòsus is the most splendid, and deserves a situation in every garden.
glosses: Position or status with regard to conditions and circumstances.
examples: text: ‘Let me hear another sound from you,’ said Scrooge, ‘and you’ll keep your Christmas by losing your situation!
ref: 1843, Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol:
text: When he was nineteen, he suddenly left the 'Co-op' office, and got a situation in Nottingham.
ref: 1913, D[avid] H[erbert] Lawrence, “Chapter 3”, in Sons and Lovers, London: Duckworth & Co. […], →OCLC:
text: You take a morning paper from the top of the stack
And read the situations from the front to the back
The only job that's open need a man with a knack
So put it right back in the rack Jack.
ref: 1946, Vaughn Horton, Denver Darling, Milt Gabler, Choo Choo Ch'Boogie:
glosses: A position of employment; a post.
examples: text: Boss, we've got a situation here…
synonyms: word: ass in a sling
word: bind
word: bucket of syrup
word: calvary
word: cross
word: cross to bear
word: difficulty
word: dilemma
word: dire straits
word: doghouse
word: fix
word: hole
word: jam
word: kettle of fish
word: ordeal
word: pickle
word: pinch
word: plight
word: predicament
word: quandary
word: quagmire
word: situation
word: spot
word: spot of bother
word: sticky situation
word: sticky wicket
word: tight spot
word: trouble
glosses: A difficult or unpleasant set of circumstances; a problem.
examples: text: This survey includes all key situations (including Paramount Gulf Theaters) as well as suburban runs and small-town situations.
ref: 1950, United States. Congress. House. Committee on Ways and Means, Revenue Revision of 1950: Hearings Before the Committee, page 1805:
text: […] Craterian theatre, with a full-scale advance campaign and preliminary screenings held for opinion-makers. Results and reactions will be closely studied and, if popular, the idea will be extended to other situations.
ref: 1960, Motion Picture Herald, volumes 218-219, page 14:
qualifier: film industry
glosses: An individual movie theater.
examples: text: She is working some sort of amazing burgundy chiffon situation with gold piping.
glosses: An outfit, garment, or look.
Synonyms: sense: combination of circumstances
word: condition
word: set up
word: state
Derived terms: chicken-and-egg situation
clinical situation
in-basket situation
interesting situation
limit situation
no-win situation
seatbelt situation
situational
situation awareness
situationism
situation room
situationship
situation theory
special situation
sticky situation
Related terms: site
situate
situated
situation comedy
sitcom