We consider a nonlinear singular Dirichlet problem driven by the
(
p
,
q
)
\left(p,q)
-Laplacian and a reaction where the singular term
u
−
η
{u}^{-\eta }
is multiplied by a strictly positive Carathéodory function
f
(
z
,
u
)
f\left(z,u)
. By using a topological approach, based on the Leray-Schauder alternative principle, we show the existence of a smooth positive solution.