difficult
adjEtymology
From Middle English difficult (ca. 1400), a back-formation from difficulte (whence modern difficulty), from Old French difficulté, from Latin difficultas, from difficul, older form of difficilis (“hard to do, difficult”), from dis- + facilis (“easy”); see difficile. Replaced native Middle English earveþ (“difficult, hard”), from Old English earfoþe (“difficult, laborious, full of hardship”), cognate to German Arbeit (“work”). The verb is from the adjective, partly after Middle French difficulter and its etymon Latin difficultō. Compare difficilitate, difficultate, and Italian difficoltare.
- derived from difficultō
- derived from difficulter
- inherited from difficult
Definitions
Hard, not easy, requiring much effort.
- difficult of accomplishment
- However, the difficult weather conditions will ensure Yunnan has plenty of freshwater.
- There is not the strength or courage left me to venture into the wide, strange, difficult world, alone.
Hard to manage, uncooperative, troublesome.
- Stop being difficult and eat your broccoli—you know it's good for you.
Unable or unwilling.
- “I hope, madam,” said Jones, “my charming Lady Bellaston will be as difficult to believe anything against one who is so sensible of the many obligations she hath conferred upon him.”
›+ 1 more definitionshow fewer
To make difficult, hinder
To make difficult, hinder; to impede; to perplex.
- August 9 1678, William Temple, letter to Joseph Williamson their Excellencies having desisted from their pretensions , which had difficulted the peace
The neighborhood
- synonymburdensome
- synonymcumbersome
- synonymhard
- synonymarduous
- synonymchallenging
- synonymnasty
- synonymdifficult
- synonymeffortful
- synonymrough
- synonymrocky
- synonymthistly
- synonymtough
- antonymeasy
- neighborawkward
- neighborbackbreaking
- neighborcumbersome
- neighborget blood from a stone
- neighborget blood out of a stone
- neighborheavy
- neighbornail Jell-O to a tree
- neighborproblematic
- neighborpull teeth
- neighbordifficult situation
- neighbortest
- neighborburdensome
Vish — recursive loop
A definitional loop anchored at difficult. Each word in the ring is defined by the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself. Scroll to it and watch.
A definitional loop anchored at difficult. Each word in the ring appears in the definition of the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself.
8 hops · closes at difficult
curated · pre-corpus. live cycle detection across the full graph is the next major milestone.
sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA