Word of the day · 15 June 2026
conundrum
/kəˈnʌndrəm/
noun
A confusing or difficult problem; also a riddle whose answer involves a pun.
In a sentence
- How to cut costs without losing staff remains a conundrum.
- The crossword’s last clue was a classic conundrum.
- Parents faced the familiar conundrum of screen time versus sleep.
In an image
Origin
Origin uncertain; recorded in English from the late 1500s, first for a whim or punning riddle, later for any hard problem.
History
Early uses of conundrum leaned toward witty wordplay and campus slang. Over time the riddle sense widened into any knotty dilemma. Policy writers love it for trade-offs with no painless path. The playful root still peeks through when the problem feels clever as well as hard.
Nearby words
puzzle · dilemma · enigma
A puzzle that resists a clean solution.