Also:

in a pretty pickle
in a fix
in a spot

Meaning of Idiom ‘In a Pickle’

To be in a pickle means to be in a difficult or embarrassing situation; in a dilemma or quandary.

The word pickle can take many modifiers in this idiom, thus hanging the emphasis or tone of the idiom, somewhat. For example:

“You are in a nasty pickle.” – You are in a particularly bad situation.
“Aren’t you in a nice pickle.” – Speaker is being somewhat sarcastic and flippant.

A ‘pretty pickle’ can be used alone to describe difficult situations, e.g. “Isn’t this a pretty pickle?”

Sentence Examples

“I made dates with two different girls on the same night.” Well, aren’t you in a pickle,” said Jan.

“Our flight is canceled and the next one is not until tomorrow. Meanwhile, we don’t have a place to stay. We are in a pickle, for sure.”

“He got himself in a pickle when he tried to bribe the police officer so he wouldn’t get a ticket.”

“We knew we were in a pickle but we didn’t know how bad things would get.”

“At home with the workmen all afternoon, our house being in a most sad pickle.” — Samuel Pepys, 1660

Only a year ago, Mr Bush was in a pickle, after the defection of Senator Jim Jeffords handed the upper chamber to the Democrats. — The Eonomist, Jul 25th 2002

Origin of In a Pickle

Use of pickle to mean a mess or quandary dates from the 1500s.

The phrase may have first referred to being drunk or intoxicated. A Dutch phrase from the 1500s, in de pekel zitten, means literally ‘sitting in the pickle’ and means to be drunk.

Shakespeare used ‘in a pickle’ to mean being drunk in The Tempest:

Alonso: “And Trinculo is reeling ripe: where should they Find this grand liquor that hath gilded ’em? How camest thou in this pickle?

Trinculo: “I have been in such a pickle since I saw you last that, I fear me, will never out of my bones: I shall not fear fly-blowing.”