Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

double bind

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: 3.73 in modern English

Syllables: dou-ble bind
IPA

16

Scrabble Score

10

Letters

2

Syllables

8

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A dilemma in which someone receives contradictory instructions and cannot act on either.

Example Sentences

"She is deciding, right then and there, if she wants to be seen naked on the internet, forever, an object of desire as well as derision. […] In a sense, as Angel notes, the scene dramatizes “the double bind in which women exist: that saying no may be difficult, but so too is saying yes.”"

Etymology

Coined by English anthropologist, linguist, semiotician and cyberneticist Gregory Bateson.

Inflected Forms

double binds (plural)

Questions

What does double bind mean?: A dilemma in which someone receives contradictory instructions and cannot act on either.
Where does double bind come from?: Coined by English anthropologist, linguist, semiotician and cyberneticist Gregory Bateson.

How to pronounce double bind

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “double bind”.
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