gordian knot

1. 1.

   any very difficult problem; insoluble in its own terms

   Broaderproblem
2. 2.

   an intricate knot tied by Gordius, the king of Phrygia, and cut by the sword of Alexander the Great after he heard that whoever undid it would become ruler of Asia

   Broaderknot

Questions about gordian knot

What does gordian knot mean?

gordian knot means "any very difficult problem; insoluble in its own terms". That is the primary sense; the word has 2 in total, listed in full on this page.

Is gordian knot a common word?

gordian knot is banded "Uncommon" — turns up in careful writing rather than conversation. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.