between Scylla and Charybdis
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
Faced with two equally dangerous or undesirable options
Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt
Đứng trước hai lựa chọn nguy hiểm hoặc không mong muốn như nhau
Machine-translated — suggest a fix
Literally: between a sea monster and a whirlpool
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Examples
The company is between Scylla and Charybdis, choosing between debt and bankruptcy
AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)
Sources & notes
Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-30; pending editor spot-check.
Common questions
What does “between Scylla and Charybdis” mean?
Faced with two equally dangerous or undesirable options Literally: between a sea monster and a whirlpool
Is “between Scylla and Charybdis” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.