---
title: "BIP39 Word #498: dilemma — Seed Phrase Mnemonic Word"
url: "https://bip39-phrase.com/bip39-word/dilemma/"
language: "en"
updated: "2026-10-19T00:00:00+00:00"
---

Word #498 00111110001 

# dilemma — BIP39 word #498

"**dilemma**" is word #498 of the 2048 words in the official BIP39 English wordlist, between [dignity](/bip39-word/dignity/) and [dinner](/bip39-word/dinner/). In a seed phrase it stands for the 11-bit value `00111110001`, decimal index 497\. 

/dɪˈlɛmə/  · _noun:_ a situation requiring a difficult choice between two options 

[Russian](/ru/ "The BIP39 wordlist with Russian translations"): дилемма 

## Binary Representation

Six 1-bits and five 0-bits; 462 of the 2048 indexes have exactly six 1-bits.

One wrong bit turns it into (leftmost bit first):

[sail](/bip39-word/sail/)[lawsuit](/bip39-word/lawsuit/)[bullet](/bip39-word/bullet/)[comfort](/bip39-word/comfort/)[curtain](/bip39-word/curtain/)[demand](/bip39-word/demand/)[destroy](/bip39-word/destroy/)[dish](/bip39-word/dish/)[dirt](/bip39-word/dirt/)[dinosaur](/bip39-word/dinosaur/)[dignity](/bip39-word/dignity/) 

Position

Hex Index

0x1F1

4-Letter Prefix

dile

## About "dilemma" in BIP39

- "dilemma" has 7 letters, but the first three, **"dil"**, already identify it, because **"di"** also begins 26 other words, among them [diagram](/bip39-word/diagram/), [dial](/bip39-word/dial/), [diamond](/bip39-word/diamond/) and [diary](/bip39-word/diary/). Three letters are enough for only 604 of the 2048 words.
- **"dile"** is unique only within the English list: it also begins dilema in the [Spanish list](/spanish/), so a four-letter backup should say which list it uses.
- "dilemma" appears in one of the 24 official English [test vectors](https://github.com/trezor/python-mnemonic/blob/master/vectors.json) of BIP39: vector #15 (word 18 of 24). Every official vector passes the [checksum checker](/bip39-checksum-checker/), and [How BIP39 works](/how-bip39-works/) shows how the entropy turns into such words.

Official test vector #15

[hamster](/bip39-word/hamster/) [diagram](/bip39-word/diagram/) [private](/bip39-word/private/) [dutch](/bip39-word/dutch/) [cause](/bip39-word/cause/) [delay](/bip39-word/delay/) [private](/bip39-word/private/) [meat](/bip39-word/meat/) [slide](/bip39-word/slide/) [toddler](/bip39-word/toddler/) [razor](/bip39-word/razor/) [book](/bip39-word/book/) [happy](/bip39-word/happy/) [fancy](/bip39-word/fancy/) [gospel](/bip39-word/gospel/) [tennis](/bip39-word/tennis/) [maple](/bip39-word/maple/) dilemma [loan](/bip39-word/loan/) [word](/bip39-word/word/) [shrug](/bip39-word/shrug/) [inflict](/bip39-word/inflict/) [delay](/bip39-word/delay/) [length](/bip39-word/length/) 

## Word #498 in the Other 9 BIP39 Wordlists

[Czech](/czech/) inzerce 

[French](/french/) damier 

[Italian](/italian/) dito 

[Japanese](/japanese/) くふう 

[Korean](/korean/) 목소리 

[Portuguese](/portuguese/) conhecer 

[Spanish](/spanish/) curar 

[Traditional Chinese](/chinese-traditional/) 首 

[Simplified Chinese](/chinese-simplified/) 首 

## More BIP39 Words Starting with "D"

[ #494 diet ](/bip39-word/diet/)[ #495 differ ](/bip39-word/differ/)[ #496 digital ](/bip39-word/digital/)[ #497 dignity ](/bip39-word/dignity/)[ #499 dinner ](/bip39-word/dinner/)[ #500 dinosaur ](/bip39-word/dinosaur/)[ #501 direct ](/bip39-word/direct/)[ #502 dirt ](/bip39-word/dirt/) 

[View all words starting with "D" ](/bip39-words/d/) 

## Seed phrase, key and recovery guides

- [Seed Phrase Formats by Network: BIP39 and the Exceptions](/seed-phrase-formats-by-network/)
- [BIP39 vs BIP32 vs BIP44: How the Seed Standards Fit Together](/crypto-seed-standards-bip39-vs-bip32-vs-bip44/)
- [How to Memorize a Seed Phrase: Color, Story and Palace Methods](/seed-phrase-memory/)

[ Full BIP39 Wordlist ](/)