difficult
not easily or readily done; requiring much labor, skill, or planning to be performed successfully; hard: a difficult job.
hard to understand or solve: a difficult problem.
hard to deal with or get on with: a difficult pupil.
hard to please or satisfy: a difficult employer.
hard to persuade or induce; stubborn: a difficult old man.
disadvantageous; trying; hampering: The operation was performed under the most difficult conditions.
fraught with hardship, especially financial hardship: We saw some difficult times during the depression years.
Origin of difficult
1synonym study For difficult
Other words for difficult
1 | arduous |
2 | intricate, perplexing, involved, knotty |
4 | particular, finical, fussy |
5 | obdurate, uncompromising |
Opposites for difficult
Other words from difficult
- dif·fi·cult·ly, adverb
- non·dif·fi·cult, adjective
- qua·si-dif·fi·cult, adjective
- qua·si-dif·fi·cult·ly, adverb
- su·per·dif·fi·cult, adjective
- su·per·dif·fi·cult·ly, adverb
- un·dif·fi·cult, adjective
- un·dif·fi·cult·ly, adverb
Words Nearby difficult
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use difficult in a sentence
These are difficult conversations that aren’t going to go away whether or not we play the national anthem.
The NBA’s week of controversies show how hard life is outside of the bubble | Ben Golliver | February 12, 2021 | Washington PostIt’s really difficult to do a cost-benefit analysis when you can’t quantify the benefits, which is the case with rotational-energy protection systems.
That would make it much more difficult to operate a site like Yelp, which relies on having negative user content that people that it’s about would want taken down.
Twenty-Six Words Created the Internet. What Will It Take to Save It? | Stephen Engelberg | February 9, 2021 | ProPublicaUnder normal circumstances, with a defeated incumbent president, it is difficult for a party to change.
Senate Republicans take note: The public is moving in favor of conviction | Jennifer Rubin | February 9, 2021 | Washington PostThe Washington Football Team is also in need of a quarterback, but it’s difficult to imagine an intra-divisional trade.
The 10 biggest roster questions in the NFL as the offseason begins | John Clayton | February 9, 2021 | Washington Post
The choice between freedom and fear is not difficult when seen with perspective.
Although Huckabee's condescending tone - like that of an elementary school history teacher - makes it difficult to take seriously.
Huckabee 2016: Bend Over and Take It Like a Prisoner! | Olivia Nuzzi | January 8, 2015 | THE DAILY BEASTThat makes it incredibly difficult to determine the effects of airstrikes, for example.
Pentagon Doesn’t Know How Many People It’s Killed in the ISIS War | Nancy A. Youssef | January 7, 2015 | THE DAILY BEASTBeing the first to declare feelings is incredibly difficult.
Random Hook-Ups or Dry Spells: Why Millennials Flunk College Dating | Ellie Schaack | January 1, 2015 | THE DAILY BEASTWhite rappers are always difficult to comprehend, difficult to deal with.
In the early stages of chronic nephritis, when diagnosis is difficult, it is usually normal.
A Manual of Clinical Diagnosis | James Campbell ToddIt was difficult, with the mean appliances of the time, to wring subsistence from the reluctant earth.
The Unsolved Riddle of Social Justice | Stephen LeacockIt was difficult to describe—a little sterner, a little wilder, a faint emphasis of the barbaric peering through it.
The Wave | Algernon BlackwoodAjoutez cecy, s'il vous plaist, la grande difficult qu'il y a de tirer d'eux les mots mesmes qu'ils ont.
Numbers have dribbled back from firing line and cannot be collected in this difficult country.
Gallipoli Diary, Volume I | Ian Hamilton
British Dictionary definitions for difficult
/ (ˈdɪfɪkəlt) /
not easy to do; requiring effort: a difficult job
not easy to understand or solve; intricate: a difficult problem
hard to deal with; troublesome: a difficult child
not easily convinced, pleased, or satisfied: a difficult audience
full of hardships or trials: difficult times ahead
Origin of difficult
1Derived forms of difficult
- difficultly, adverb
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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