From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishno-winˌno-ˈwin adjective [only before noun] relating to a situation in which whatever you choose to do it will have a bad result If my child is sick and I leave work, I’m a bad employee. If I don’t, I’m a bad mother. It’s a no-win situation. → win-win
Examples from the Corpus
no-win• In fact, the nationalists were prisoners of a historical situation that inevitably made modernity a no-win choice.• For management, these are no-win controversies.• I don't want to say a no-win situation, but close.• Often bosses ignore workers or give them the silent treatment - a negative, no-win situation for all concerned.• The human and political fallout from the earlier mass departure left Clinton in a no-win situation.• The team, certainly against the less-powerful nations, were almost in a no-win situation.• Whatever he said, he was in a no-win situation.• Recast and streamlined for the current season, it is languishing in a no-win time slot on Thursdays.no-win situation• The human and political fallout from the earlier mass departure left Clinton in a no-win situation.• The team, certainly against the less-powerful nations, were almost in a no-win situation.• This puts women in a no-win situation.• Whatever he said, he was in a no-win situation.• I don't want to say a no-win situation, but close.• Often bosses ignore workers or give them the silent treatment - a negative, no-win situation for all concerned.• It's a no-win situation -- if I tell him, he'll be upset, but if I don't he'll be mad at me for not telling him.• It was simply the clearest demonstration yet of the no-win situation Rudy Tomjanovich and his U.S. team find themselves in.• Hospitals are in a no-win situation, since protecting patients' privacy may conflict with protecting the health of doctors, nurses, and other hospital workers.From Longman Business Dictionaryno-winno-ˈwin adjective no-win situation/task etc a situation etc which will end badly whatever people decide to doThe decision could put companies in a no-win situation.He undertook what many regarded as a no-win task: streamlining the company’s data processing. 