English Explanatory Dictionary

difficult

English dictionary entry

Meanings

adj
  1. Hard, not easy, requiring much effort.
  2. Hard to manage, uncooperative, troublesome.
  3. Unable or unwilling.
verb
  1. To make difficult, hinder; to impede; to perplex.

Pronunciation

/ˈdɪfɪkəlt/ En-uk-difficult.ogg LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-difficult.wav En-us-difficult.ogg

Word forms

difficult more difficult most difficult difficults difficulting difficulted

Etymology

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.

Synonyms

burdensome cumbersome hard arduous challenging nasty difficult effortful rough rocky thistly tough uneath unsimple

Antonyms

easy

Related words

awkward backbreaking cumbersome get blood from a stone get blood out of a stone heavy nail Jell-O to a tree problematic pull teeth difficult situation test

Derived words

difficultate difficultly difficultness difficult nut to crack difficult pill to swallow superdifficult trifficult undifficult
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