problematic

adj
/ˌpɹɒb.ləˈmæt.ɪk/UK/ˌpɹɑ.bləˈmæt.ɪk/US/ˌprɔ.bləˌmæ.ʈɪk/

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French problématique, from Late Latin problematicus, from Ancient Greek προβληματικός (problēmatikós), from πρόβλημα (próblēma, “outjutting, barrier, problem”), from προβάλλω (probállō, “I throw, place before”), from πρό (pró, “before”) + βάλλω (bállō, “I throw, place”). By surface analysis, problem + -atic.

  1. derived from problematicus
  2. borrowed from problématique

Definitions

  1. Posing a problem

    Posing a problem; having or suffering from problem(s):

    • And the most problematic thing of all is that it is impossible for me even to know and tell you their names, unless one of them happens to be a playwright.
    • However, estimating what consumers will pay in the future is problematic.
    • The station is blessed with a cafe and staff accommodation, as it's an important crew changeover point, although this can be problematic when services are late.
  2. Only affirming the possibility that a predicate be actualised.

  3. A problem or difficulty in a particular field of study.

    • The seemingly intractable problematic of essentialism versus antiessentialism and primordialism versus circumstantialism endemic to identity analysis today.

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

A definitional loop anchored at problematic. 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.

01problematic02affirming03affirm04support05sustain06nourish07matter

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

7 hops · closes at problematic

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