Teufelskreis

This brilliant compound is a pairing of 'teufel' (devil) +‎ kreis (circle). Let your imagination run wild on how this unfortunately relatable expression could be applied. Most often it gets used similarly to the English phrase "vicious cycle" or "doom loop" — describing a situation where an unpleasant event causes a chain reaction of other unpleasant events, creating a seemingly inescapable, hopeless, and frustrating predicament.