Contextualizebeta

difficulty

noun
/ˈdɪfɪkəlti/

Etymology

From Middle English difficulte, from Middle French and Anglo-Norman difficulte and their etymon Latin difficultas, from difficul, older form of difficilis (“hard to do, difficult”), from dis- + facilis (“easy”); see difficile and difficult. Equivalent to dis- + facile + -ty. Also analysable as difficult + -y, though the adjective is historically a backformation from the noun.

  1. derived from difficultas
  2. derived from difficulte
  3. inherited from difficulte

Definitions

  1. The state of being difficult, or hard to do.

    • My mom is old and has a lot of difficulty (in) remembering all her grandchildren's names.

  2. An obstacle that hinders achievement of a goal.

    • We faced a difficulty in trying to book a flight so late.
    • The difficulties of photoheliography consist principally in the rapidity with which the sun's image acts upon the sensitive film.
    • The two-hour debate was briefly stalled by a technical difficulty with the moderators’ microphones.

  3. Physical danger from the environment, especially with risk of drowning

    • 2012 August 2, "Children rescued after getting into difficulties in Donegal" BBC Online
    • The three teenagers, a girl and two boys, were playing by the river when it is believed they got into difficulty.
  4. ›+ 3 more definitions

    1. An objection.

    2. That which cannot be easily understood or believed.

    3. An awkward situation or quarrel.

The neighborhood

Derived

counterdifficulty, difficulty level, in difficulty, learning difficulty, personality difficulty, technical difficulty, with difficulty, with great difficulty

Vish — recursive loop

A definitional loop anchored at difficulty. 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.

01difficulty02achievement03valor04standard05power06control07financial08finances09resources10resource

A definitional loop anchored at difficulty. Each word in the ring appears in the definition of the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself.

10 hops · closes at difficulty

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