Learn ArabicB2 › مَأْزِق

مَأْزِق

predicament /ˈmaʔ.zɪq/

nounB2#3093 most common

Also: impasse, dilemma, tight spot

Example sentences

أنا في مأزق.
I am in a predicament.
وقعنا في مأزق كبير.
We fell into a big predicament.
حاول أن يجد حلاً لهذا المأزق.
He tried to find a solution to this predicament.
وضعتني تصرفاتك في مأزق محرج أمام الجميع.
Your actions put me in an embarrassing predicament in front of everyone.
تدرك الحكومة خطورة المأزق الاقتصادي الذي تمر به البلاد.
The government recognizes the seriousness of the economic impasse the country is going through.
أدت الانقسامات السياسية إلى مأزق دستوري يصعب الخروج منه دون تنازلات متبادلة.
The political divisions led to a constitutional impasse that is hard to escape without mutual concessions.

Declension

CaseSingularPlural
Nominativeمَأْزِقٌمَآزِقُ
Genitiveمَأْزِقٍمَآزِقَ
Accusativeمَأْزِقًامَآزِقَ
Vocativeيا مَأْزِقُيا مَآزِقُ

Word family

مَأْزِقpredicament, impasse
مَآزِقpredicaments (plural)
تَأَزَّقَto get stuck in a predicament

Etymology

مأزق is a noun of place built on the pattern مَفْعِل from the Classical Arabic root ء-ز-ق, which carries the sense of narrowness or being hemmed in. It first described a narrow passage where a fighting force could get trapped with no way out. Modern Standard Arabic broadened it to cover any predicament, personal, political, or military, that offers no easy exit.

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