🇩🇪German Source WordCode: DE

Dosschirm-Bind (Doppelbindung)

Native Script:Doppelbindung

Pronunciation / Transliteration: /ˈdɔpəlˌbɪndʊŋ/

🇬🇧 Direct English Meaning:
Double bind/ˈdʌb.əl baɪnd/
nounCEFR C1 (Advanced)Top #8500 frequency
Full Thesaurus
🇩🇪 Example Sentence in German:

"Der Angestellte geriet durch die widersprüchlichen Anweisungen in eine Doppelbindung."

Comprehensive Definitions & Senses

2 senses
As noun
  1. 1

    A psychologically distressing situation in which a person receives conflicting messages or imperatives, such that any choice or response they make will result in a negative outcome.

    "Being told to be independent while simultaneously being punished for not following instructions puts an employee in a classic double-bind."
  2. 2

    A difficult predicament or dilemma from which there is no good or logical way out due to mutually exclusive constraints.

    "The company faced a double-bind of needing to cut costs while instantly increasing productivity."

Thesaurus & Semantic Spectrum

Antonyms & Contrasting Words (1)

Linguistic Origin & Historical Etymology

The term was coined in the mid-1950s by anthropologist Gregory Bateson and his colleagues to describe a dilemma in communication in which an individual receives conflicting messages or demands. Derived from the English adjective 'double' (from Latin duplex) and the verb 'bind' (from Old English bindan), it transitioned from family therapy and psychology into general discourse to describe catch-22 situations.

Quick Vocabulary Retention Check

Which of the following is the closest synonym for "Double bind"?

10 Global Lexicons: How "Double bind" is said worldwide

Click any language below to open its dedicated Language to English dictionary page with native script & transliteration

Thesaurus & Synonyms Graph

Explore Nuanced Synonyms for "Double bind"

Discover exact matches, context-specific alternatives, and antonyms with intensity ratings in the VocabDictionary Thesaurus.

View "Double bind" Synonym Map