How to Use lose-lose in a Sentence

lose-lose

adjective
  • This is why, again, this is absolutely lose-lose.
    — Isaac Chotiner, New Yorker, 27 Apr. 2026
  • But this conclusion may seem like a lose-lose for those looking to stay active.
    — Alexa Mikhail, Fortune Well, 27 June 2023
  • Still, such a war would create a lose-lose scenario for everyone.
    — Rana Mitter, Foreign Affairs, 22 Apr. 2025
  • Getting into that discussion, in your own words, can be a lose-lose.
    — Mikey O'Connell, The Hollywood Reporter, 13 Mar. 2024
  • But as the war unfolds, Israel is hurtling toward a lose-lose outcome.
    — Audrey Kurth Cronin, Foreign Affairs, 15 Oct. 2023
  • The common ground is their underdog paths that have converged to create a lose-lose scenario for the house.
    — Doug Kezirian, New York Times, 3 June 2026
  • That was a lose-lose AI diplomacy strategy.
    — Tanvi Ratna, FOXNews.com, 23 Feb. 2026
  • This puts women in a lose-lose position in sexist situations.
    — Kwame Anthony Appiah, New York Times, 21 Apr. 2023
  • Unless a patient recovers sufficiently to check themselves out, they are stuck in a lose-lose scenario.
    — Corinne Purtill, Los Angeles Times, 15 June 2025
  • Looking back now, Winter says speaking out was always going to be a lose-lose situation.
    — Gillian Telling, People.com, 8 May 2025
  • Pledging to bring gas prices down by any means necessary is a lose-lose prospect for both the planet and the Biden administration.
    — Kate Aronoff, The New Republic, 19 Sep. 2023
  • Leftist demagogues specialize in lose-lose-lose policies.
    — Editorial, Boston Herald, 6 Apr. 2026
  • These federal employees are in a lose-lose situation, with both the right and the left to blame in Washington.
    — Beth Collums, AJC.com, 3 Apr. 2026
  • For Richard Linklater, talking about awards and accolades is a lose-lose situation.
    — Seija Rankin, The Hollywood Reporter, 25 Oct. 2024
  • Small business loan rejection rates in the United States remain stubbornly high, which is a lose-lose scenario.
    — Zennon Kapron, Forbes.com, 25 Jan. 2026
  • The antitrust ruling against Google may not be the lose-lose scenario for the search giant and its key partner Apple that some are predicting.
    — Morgan Chittum, CNBC, 6 Aug. 2024
  • The Dolphins officially find themselves in a lose-lose situation.
    — Miami Herald, 6 Oct. 2025
  • From my own experience working inside and outside of large corporates, setting goals is often a lose-lose situation.
    — Rob Kaplan, Forbes, 4 Sep. 2024
  • If not addressed properly, these issues compound over time, resulting in a lose-lose situation for retailers and buyers alike.
    — Roland Gossage, Forbes, 25 Sep. 2024
  • The question puts coaches in a lose-lose situation, which is why Iowa’s Lisa Bluder declined to answer it at her news conference.
    — David Whitley, The Tennessean, 9 Apr. 2024
  • Non-plastic goods are usually more expensive for the business, and less user friendly for the customer–a lose-lose situation for all but the most fervent eco-crusader.
    — Zoya Hasan, Forbes.com, 22 May 2026
  • Because lose-lose situations are so endemic to the genre, a hint of relief can sometimes accompany the prospect of surrender to the putrefying mob.
    — Katy Waldman, New Yorker, 9 Aug. 2025
  • In a classic lose-lose scenario, the study also identified an evaluation bias that negatively impacts highly productive women who get their work done in less time.
    — Michelle Travis, Forbes, 25 Feb. 2025
  • The House Democrats’ campaign suggested in a statement that the predicament is a lose-lose situation for Republicans.
    — Julia Mueller, The Hill, 5 July 2025
  • Adding fuel to the fire, around 50% of non-subscribers say that nothing could persuade them to pay for online news, leaving the traditional media industry in a lose-lose situation.
    — Nia Bowers, USA Today, 15 May 2025
  • Some workers may ask their employers to step in with health coverage or unexpected healthcare costs, which will either be very expensive or unaffordable, leaving them in a lose-lose situation.
    — Rhett Buttle, Forbes.com, 19 June 2025
  • But a quarter-century is bound to bring changes—including physical ones, understandably—and Davis admits she’s been fighting a lose-lose battle over her use of facial fillers and other aesthetic treatments.
    — Kayla Blanton, SELF, 12 June 2023
  • This lose-lose situation is also evident with these laws’ age-verification requirements under which social media companies must verify the identity of all their users, not just minors.
    — Agustina Vergara Cid, Oc Register, 15 Mar. 2026
  • So far the European approach has been to selectively target politically sensitive goods rather than impose sweeping retaliation, since like most economists, officials view tariff wars as a lose-lose game.
    — Elaine Kurtenbach, Los Angeles Times, 7 Apr. 2025
  • This whole Western Conference semifinal series against these defending champions has been a lose-lose proposition for the Lakers, who are now down 3-0 and staring into the elimination abyss in Game 4 on Monday.
    — Los Angeles Times, 10 May 2026

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'lose-lose.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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