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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

zugzwang.

A situation in which a player is forced to make a disadvantageous move; a position where any legal move will worsen a player's situation.

8 characters2 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/ˈzʌɡ.zwæŋ//ˈzʊɡ.-//ˈzuːɡ.-//-.swæŋ/
  1. A situation in which a player is forced to make a disadvantageous move; a position where any legal move will worsen a player's situation.

    countable · uncountable
  2. A situation in which someone is forced to make a disadvantageous move.

    countable · figuratively · uncountable
Where this word comes from

From German Zugzwang, from Zug (“move”) + Zwang (“compulsion”).

verb/ˈzʌɡ.zwæŋ//ˈzʊɡ.-//ˈzuːɡ.-//-.swæŋ/
  1. To force (a player) into a situation where they must make a disadvantageous move.

    transitive
Where this word comes from

From German Zugzwang, from Zug (“move”) + Zwang (“compulsion”).

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.