situation
Part of speech: noun
Morphological type: derivation
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.
Inflected forms:
form: situations
pos: noun
tags: plural
form: situatia
pos: noun
tags: humorous
nonstandard
plural
form: scituation
pos: noun
tags: alternative
hypercorrect
obsolete
Senses:
gloss: The combination of circumstances at a given moment; a state of affairs.
pos: noun
examples: The United States is in an awkward situation with debt default looming.
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.
By 29, my financial situation wasn’t just disorganized, it was untenable. I didn’t have enough money to cover a single unexpected expense, and my credit card balance wasn’t going down; the interest was outpacing me.
gloss: The way in which something is positioned vis-à-vis its surroundings.
pos: noun
examples: The Botanical Gardens are in a delightful situation on the river bank.
[…]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.
gloss: The place in which something is situated; a location.
pos: noun
examples: […] one of the most pleasant situations in America. With the exception of one melancholy season, no town in the union, of its size, has had a greater share of the inestimable blessing of health.
[Hibíscus] speciòsus is the most splendid, and deserves a situation in every garden.
I described the situation as well as I could, and was entering upon an explanation of the various roads, lanes, and fields to be traversed in order to reach it, the goings straight on, and turnings to the right, and the left[…]
gloss: Position or status with regard to conditions and circumstances.
pos: noun
gloss: A position of employment; a post.
pos: noun
tags: UK
examples: ‘Let me hear another sound from you,’ said Scrooge, ‘and you’ll keep your Christmas by losing your situation!
When he was nineteen, he suddenly left the 'Co-op' office, and got a situation in Nottingham.
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.
gloss: A difficult or unpleasant set of circumstances; a problem.
pos: noun
examples: Boss, we've got a situation here…
gloss: An individual movie theater.
pos: noun
tags: US
examples: This survey includes all key situations (including Paramount Gulf Theaters) as well as suburban runs and small-town situations.
[…] 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.
gloss: An outfit, garment, or look.
pos: noun
tags: slang
examples: She is working some sort of amazing burgundy chiffon situation with gold piping.
Synonyms: set up
Related words: site
situate
situated
situation comedy
sitcom
Derived words: chicken-and-egg situation
clinical situation
in-basket situation
interesting situation
limit situation
resituation
shituation
situational
situation awareness
situationism
situationist
situationless
situation room
situationship
situation theory
special situation
sticky situation
Translations: