What is the meaning of the expression catch-22?

1 : a problematic situation for which the only solution is denied by a circumstance inherent in the problem or by a rule the show-business catch-22—no work unless you have an agent, no agent unless you’ve worked— Mary Murphy also : the circumstance or rule that denies a solution.

How do you use catch-22 in a sentence?

Example Sentences

1. I couldn’t start my own business until I have got money, and I couldn’t get the money until I start my own business, oh my God, this is the real Catch-22 situation.
2. David is caught in a Catch-22 situation, unable to choose which way to go.

What is another word for Catch-22?

In this page you can discover 18 synonyms, antonyms, idiomatic expressions, and related words for catch-22, like: gordian-knot, dilemma, paradox, predicament, chicken-and-egg, no-win-situation, quagmire, spot, between-a-rock-and-a-hard-place, 4-18pm and in-a-pickle.

Where does the expression Catch-22 originate?

The term is first introduced by the character Doc Daneeka, an army psychiatrist who invokes “Catch-22” to explain why any pilot requesting mental evaluation for insanity demonstrates his own sanity in creating the request and thus cannot be declared insane.

What’s another word for Catch-22?

Is catch-22 a paradox?

A catch-22 is a paradoxical situation from which an individual cannot escape because of contradictory rules or limitations. The term was coined by Joseph Heller, who used it in his 1961 novel Catch-22.

What is the opposite of a catch-22?

“It’s an inescapable truth that these problems have no easy solution.”…What is the opposite of catch-22?

accuracy	certainty
truth	understanding
usualness

What does Catch-22 criticize?

In a 1977 essay on Catch-22, Heller stated that the “antiwar and antigovernment feelings in the book” were a product of the Korean War and the 1950s rather than World War II itself. Heller’s criticisms are not intended for World War II but for the Cold War and McCarthyism.

What is the opposite of a Catch 22?