/ˈkʌl.də.sæk/ (noun)

Definition

a road or path that is blocked off at one end without any exit, blind alley, impasse, no through road, dead end, a static situation that leads nowhere

Example

A dilemma or cul-de-sac are special kinds of problems. When you are in a dilemma, every alternative solution is unacceptable. For those of us in the United States, we are watching a large-scale economic dilemma play out. If the federal government bails out the banks, we are rewarding incompetence. If we don’t bail out the banks, the financial system may collapse, taking the economy down with it.

Source of example: https://www.schwarzassociates.com/

/ˈɪm.pæs/ (noun)

Definition

a situation in which there is no room for further progress, block to agreement or progress, blind alley, standoff, dead end, dilemma, standstill, deadlock, cul-de-sac, stalemate, checkmate, bottleneck

Example

50 Ways to Break an Impasse
The impasse is all inside your head”, I said to them
The deal is easy if you take it logically
I’d like to help you in your struggle, don’t you see
There must be 50 ways to break an impasse
I said why don’t we explore with all our might
I believe you’ll begin to see the light
Soon they realized I probably was right
There must be 50 ways to break an impasse
50 ways to break an impasse

Source: https://www.mediate.com/

Antonyms

progress, development

Blind Alley 1100 Words You Need Week 41 Day 3

a situation or method that leads nowhere or produces no results, cul-de-sac, fruitless or mistaken course or direction, unproductive undertaking, closed-off passage, dead end, impasse, stagnation

The confidence pacts are an attempt to make more room for investment policy to increase growth, but now even the European Parliament’s committee recognizes that growth alone does not create jobs, so political Europe is oscillating between Maastricht and some kind of anticyclical policy. The former aggravates employment problems, the latter does not resolve them, so we are getting into a real blind alley, and Europe is threatened, more than threatened now, with a crisis of social cohesion, and the prospects for European civilization and democracy are dim.

Source: https://glosbe.com/