vicious circle

noun
1.
Logic.
  1. (in demonstration) the use of each of two propositions to establish the other.
  2. (in definition) the use of each of two terms to define the other.
2.
a situation in which effort to solve a given problem results in aggravation of the problem or the creation of a worse problem:
a vicious circle where the more I give them, the more they expect.
Origin
1785-95
Examples from the web for vicious circle
  • For a vicious circle, its mathematical completeness approached perfection.
  • In much of the developing world, lack of water is at the center of a vicious circle of inequality.
  • No one has yet proved strong or courageous enough to break the vicious circle of myth and violence.
  • Modern agriculture seems locked in a vicious circle of pollinator destruction.
  • But in the political economy there was also a vicious circle.
  • Stepfathers often reciprocate in kind, creating a vicious circle of resentment and recrimination.
  • It's arguably more of a vicious circle than squarely the fault of consumers.
  • No doubt, in a vicious circle, those differences help keep poor countries poor.
  • These diseases reinforce a vicious circle of poverty and hopelessness by depressing production.
  • They also have to break the vicious circle of poverty and educational disadvantage.
British Dictionary definitions for vicious circle

vicious circle

noun
1.
Also vicious cycle. a situation in which an attempt to resolve one problem creates new problems that lead back to the original situation
2.
(logic)
  1. a form of reasoning in which a conclusion is inferred from premises the truth of which cannot be established independently of that conclusion
  2. an explanation given in terms that cannot be understood independently of that which was to be explained
  3. a situation in which some statement is shown to entail its negation and vice versa, as this statement is false is true only if false and false only if true
3.
(med) a condition in which one disease or disorder causes another, which in turn aggravates the first condition
vicious circle in Medicine

vicious circle vi·cious circle (vĭsh'əs)
n.
A condition in which a disorder or disease gives rise to another that subsequently affects the first.

vicious circle in Culture

vicious circle definition


A series of reactions that compound an initial unfortunate occurrence or situation: “A person who is overweight is likely to feel frustrated and to deal with this frustration by eating more; it's a vicious circle.”

Idioms and Phrases with vicious circle

vicious circle

A series of events in which each problem creates another and worsens the original one. For example, The fatter I get, the unhappier I am, so I eat to cheer myself up, which makes me fatter yet—it's a vicious circle. This expression comes from the French cercle vicieux, which in philosophy means “a circular proof”—that is, the proof of one statement depends on a second statement, whose proof in turn depends on the first. One writer suggests that the English meaning of “vicious” helped the expression acquire its more pejorative present sense, used since 1839.