| Main Entry: | |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | humiliation, shame |
| Synonyms: | awkward situation, awkwardness, bashfulness, bind, boo boo, chagrin, clumsiness, complexity, confusion, destitution, difficulty, dilemma, discomfiture, discomposure, disconcertion, distress, egg on face, faux pas, fix, hitch, hot seat, hot water, impecuniosity, indebtedness, indiscretion, inhibition, mess, mistake, mortification, pickle, pinch, plight, poverty, predicament, puzzle, quandary, scrape, self-consciousness, shyness, snag, stew, strait, tangle, timidity, unease, uneasiness |
| Antonyms: | comfort, confidence |
| Main Entry: | inlet |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | arm of the sea |
| Synonyms: | basin, bay, bayou, bight, canal, channel, cove, creek, delta, entrance, estuary, firth, fjord, gulf, harbor, ingress, loch, narrows, passage, slew, slough, sound, strait |
| Main Entry: | jam |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | troublesome situation |
| Synonyms: | bind, box, corner, difficulty, dilemma, fix, hole, hot water, pickle, plight, predicament, problem, quandary, scrape, spot, strait, trouble |
| Notes: | jam is a thick mixture made from fruit pulp and sugar; jelly is made from fruit juice boiled with sugar; preserves are fruit preserved whole or in large pieces and cooked with sugar; marmalade is boiled fruit pulp, rinds, and sugar |
| Antonyms: | benefit, boon |
| Main Entry: | juncture |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | turning point |
| Synonyms: | choice, circumstance, condition, contingency, crisis, crossroad, crux, emergency, exigency, instant, meeting point, moment, occasion, pass, pinch, plight, point, position, posture, predicament, quandary, state, status, strait, time, zero hour |
| Notes: | junction means the place where two or more things come together while juncture means an event that occurs at a critical time or point in time when a critical decision must be made |
| Main Entry: | narrow |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | confined, restricted |
| Synonyms: | attenuated, circumscribed, close, compressed, confining, constricted, contracted, cramped, definite, determinate, exclusive, exiguous, fine, fixed, incapacious, limited, linear, meager, near, paltry, pent, pinched, precarious, precise, scant, scanty, select, set, shrunken, slender, slim, small, spare, strait, taper, tapered, tapering, thin, threadlike, tight |
| Antonyms: | broad, generous, liberal, unconfined, unrestricted, wide |
| Main Entry: | pass |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | predicament |
| Synonyms: | condition, contingency, crisis, crossroads, emergency, exigency, juncture, pinch, plight, situation, stage, state, strait, turning point*, zero hour |
| Main Entry: | pinch |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | predicament |
| Synonyms: | box*, clutch, contingency, crisis, crunch, difficulty, emergency, exigency, hardship, juncture, necessity, oppression, pass, plight, pressure, strait, stress, tight spot, tight squeeze, turning point*, zero hour |
| Antonyms: | advantage, blessing, good fortune |
| Main Entry: | position |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | posture, stance |
| Synonyms: | arrangement, attitude, ballgame, bearing, carriage, circumstances, condition, deportment, disposition, form, habit, how things stack up, like it is, manner, mien, pass, plight, port, pose, predicament, situation, spot, stand, state, status, strait, the size of it |
| Main Entry: | predicament |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | difficult situation |
| Synonyms: | Catch-22, asperity, bad news, bind*, circumstance, clutch, condition, corner*, crisis, deadlock, deep water, dilemma, drag*, emergency, exigency, fix*, hang-up, hardship, hole, hot water, imbroglio, impasse, jam*, juncture, large order, lot, mess*, muddle, pass, perplexity, pickle, pinch, plight, position, posture, puzzle, quagmire, quandary, rigor, rough go, scrape*, soup, spot*, state*, strait, tall order ticklish spot tight situation trouble, vicissitude |
| Antonyms: | fix, good fortune, solution |