Hobson's choice
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“In some ways, practices might be facing a Hobson’s choice, where they are damned if they do and they are damned if they don’t.”
From Slate • Mar. 17, 2026
He laments the use of fixed penalty notices, in which offenders are offered the Hobson’s choice of paying minor fines or fighting criminal offenses for a litany of “anti-social behaviors.”
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 2, 2026
“This circumstance presents noncitizens in removal proceedings with a Hobson’s choice between two irreparable harms,” Judge P. Casey Pitts wrote in his Christmas Eve decision.
From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 25, 2025
Former acting Solicitor General Neal Kaytal said the ex-president will face a "Hobson's choice" to either answer questions or invoke his Fifth Amendment rights.
From Salon • Nov. 6, 2023
From the look of it," he remarked, "it will be a case of Hobson's choice.
From Punch or the London Charivari, September 9, 1914 by Seaman, Owen, Sir