- 1all the circumstances and things that are happening at a particular time and in a particular place to be in a difficult situation You could get into a situation where you have to decide immediately. We have all been in similar embarrassing situations. the current economic/financial/political, etc. situation He could see no way out of the situation. In your situation, I would look for another job. What we have here is a crisis situation. I'm in a no-win situation (= whatever I do will be bad for me).
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- 2(formal) the kind of area or surroundings that a building or town has The town is in a delightful situation in a wide green valley. Thesaurussituation
- circumstances
- position
- conditions
- things
- the case
- state of affairs
- situation all the things that are happening at a particular time and in a particular place:the current economic situation
- circumstances the facts that are connected with and affect a situation, an event, or an action; the conditions of a person's life, especially the money they have:The ship sank in mysterious circumstances.
- position the situation that someone is in, especially when it affects what they can and cannot do:She knew that she was in a position of power.
- conditions the circumstances in which people live, work, or do things; the physical situation that affects how something happens:We were forced to work outside in freezing conditions.
- Circumstances often refers to someone's financial situation;conditions are things such as the quality and amount of food or shelter they have. The circumstances that affect an event are the facts surrounding it; the conditions that affect it are usually physical ones, such as the weather.
- things (somewhat informal) the general situation, as it affects someone:Hi, Jane! How are things? Think things over before you decide.
- the case the true situation:If that is the case (= if the situation described is true), we need more staff.
- state of affairs a situation:Well, this is certainly a sorry state of affairs.
- State of affairs is mostly used with this. It is also used with adjectives describing how good or bad a situation is, such as happy, sorry, shocking, and sad, as well as those relating to time, such as present and current. Situation is much more frequent and is used in a wider variety of contexts.
- in (a) particular situation/circumstances/position/state of affairs
- the/somebody's economic/financial/social situation/circumstances/position/conditions
- (a/an) happy/fortunate/unfortunate/sad situation/circumstances/position/state of affairs
- to look at/review the situation/circumstances/conditions/things
NAmE//ˌsɪtʃuˈeɪʃənl//
adjectiveSee situation in the Oxford Advanced Learner's DictionaryCheck pronunciation: situation