double bind

Coined by Gregory Bateson.

double bind (plural double binds)

1. A dilemma in which someone receives contradictory instructions and cannot act on either.

• “double bind”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
• “double bind”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
• “double bind”, in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th edition, Boston, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2016, →ISBN.
• “double bind”, in Collins English Dictionary.
• “double bind” (US) / “double bind” (UK) in Macmillan English Dictionary.