What is another word for difficult?
Synonyms for difficult
ˈdɪf ɪˌkʌlt, -kəltdif·fi·cult
This thesaurus page includes all potential synonyms, words with the same meaning and similar terms for the word difficult.
Wiktionary
difficultadjective
Synonyms:
cumbersome, hard, burdensomedifficultadjective
hard, not easy, requiring much effort
Synonyms:
cumbersome, burdensome, harddifficultadjective
hard to manage, uncooperative, troublesome; eg. said of a person, a horse, etc.
Synonyms:
burdensome, hard, cumbersome
English Synonyms and Antonyms
difficult
Arduous (Latin arduus, steep) signifies primarily so steep and lofty as to be difficult of ascent, and hence applies to that which involves great and sustained exertion and ordinarily for a lofty aim; great learning can only be won by arduous toil. Hard applies to anything that resists our endeavors as a scarcely penetrable mass resists our physical force. Anything is hard that involves tax and strain whether of the physical or mental powers. Difficult is not used of that which merely taxes physical force; a dead lift is called hard rather than difficult; breaking stone on the road would be called hard rather than difficult work; that is difficult which involves skill, sagacity, or address, with or without a considerable expenditure of physical force; a geometrical problem may be difficult to solve, a tangled skein to unravel; a mountain difficult to ascend. Hard may be active or passive; a thing may be hard to do or hard to bear. Arduous is always active. That which is laborious or toilsome simply requires the steady application of labor or toil till accomplished; toilsome is the stronger word. That which is onerous (Latin onus, a burden) is mentally burdensome or oppressive. Responsibility may be onerous even when it involves no special exertion.
Synonyms:
arduous, exhausting, hard, laborious, onerous, severe, toilsome, tryingAntonyms:
easy, facile, light, pleasant, slight, trifling, trivial
Complete Dictionary of Synonyms and Antonyms
difficult
Synonyms:
hard, intricate, involved, perplexing, enigmatical, obscure, trying, arduous, troublesome, up hill, unmanageable, unamenable, reserved, opposedAntonyms:
easy, plain, straight, pimple, lucid, categorical, tractable, amenable, unreserved, favorable
Princeton's WordNet
difficult, hardadjective
not easy; requiring great physical or mental effort to accomplish or comprehend or endure
"a difficult task"; "nesting places on the cliffs are difficult of access"; "difficult times"; "why is it so hard for you to keep a secret?"
Synonyms:
severe, voiceless, arduous, grueling, tough, toilsome, concentrated, heavy, laborious, hard, gruelling, intemperate, knockout, punishing, unvoiced, operose, backbreaking, surd, strong, unmanageableAntonyms:
uncomplicated, cushy, casual, hands-down, soft, clean, effortless, unproblematic, smooth, simple, easy, painless, simplified, elementary, user-friendly, easygoingunmanageable, difficultadjective
hard to control
"a difficult child", "an unmanageable situation"
Synonyms:
uncorrectable, uncontrollable, hard, unwieldy, unmanageableAntonyms:
easy, hands-down, cushy, clean, simple, uncomplicated, user-friendly, elementary, casual, unproblematic, painless, smooth, easygoing, simplified, soft, effortless
Editors Contribution
ardouos
Dictionary of English Synonymes
difficultadjective
Synonyms:
hard, arduous. herculean, up-hill, beset with difficultydifficultadjective
Synonyms:
austere, rigid, unyielding, unaccommodatingdifficultadjective
Synonyms:
fastidious, dainty, squeamish, hard to please
Synonyms, Antonyms & Associated Words
difficultadjective
Synonyms:
arduous, onerous, complicated, intricate, hard, uncompliant, intractable, perverse, fastidious, exacting
PPDB, the paraphrase database
List of paraphrases for "difficult":
hard, challenging, tough, difficulty, arduous, complicated, difficulties, difficile, complex, tricky, thorny, problematic, delicate, harsh, hardship, easy, awkward, daunting, intractable, challenge, heavy, laborious, picky, painful, uphill, sensitive, dire, demanding, onerous, cumbersome, troubled, troublesome, painstaking, elusive, serious
Usage in printed sourcesFrom:
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Words popularity by usage frequency
ranking | word | |
---|---|---|
#258 | reserved | |
#596 | hard | |
#621 | easy | |
#1340 | strong | |
#1376 | involved | |
#1429 | trying | |
#1758 | complex | |
#1928 | difficult | |
#2107 | serious | |
#2145 | heavy | |
#2185 | challenge | |
#3826 | sensitive | |
#3964 | severe | |
#4924 | tough | |
#5311 | difficulty | |
#5975 | difficulties | |
#6114 | opposed | |
#6722 | challenging | |
#7037 | complicated | |
#9372 | painful | |
#9543 | demanding | |
#10268 | concentrated | |
#11437 | harsh | |
#11658 | delicate | |
#11950 | troubled | |
#13380 | obscure | |
#14988 | problematic | |
#15928 | tricky | |
#16120 | dire | |
#17452 | awkward | |
#18786 | hardship | |
#20086 | intricate | |
#20139 | elusive | |
#22594 | daunting | |
#24199 | knockout | |
#26847 | troublesome | |
#27419 | cumbersome | |
#28813 | uphill | |
#32099 | picky | |
#32471 | punishing | |
#37611 | exhausting | |
#38128 | burdensome | |
#40751 | uncontrollable | |
#40798 | arduous | |
#42553 | onerous | |
#42831 | intractable | |
#48883 | thorny | |
#52801 | grueling | |
#53660 | laborious | |
#53854 | perplexing | |
#54309 | painstaking | |
#58750 | unwieldy | |
#64747 | unmanageable | |
#67165 | difficile | |
#69752 | voiceless | |
#90856 | gruelling | |
#127101 | intemperate | |
#180754 | unvoiced | |
#183574 | backbreaking | |
#212583 | uncorrectable | |
#218887 | toilsome | |
#315651 | surd |
How to use difficult in a sentence?
Having been in government, I know managing 10 targets is difficult. Managing 169 targets is challenging for the most efficient government, the great danger is that the breadth of the targets becomes an excuse for not fulfilling the targets.
Nobody has randomly assigned children to receive different types of parenting or different types of discipline strategies, per se. ... So it's difficult for anybody to say spanking a child causes that child later on to be more aggressive, even though there are theories to suggest that could be why the correlation exists, although all the evidence is correlational, there's little correlational evidence that it's an effective strategy, and if it were effective, Rebecca Ryan should see correlational evidence.
Nobody every talks about all the holes on the front, there's some really difficult holes. I think the rest of the course is a little bit under-rated.
We could see that it had lost its canines and some of its other teeth completely and that the tooth roots had healed over, the loss of these teeth would have made it difficult for the cat to hunt successfully.
It will be extremely hard to carry out these roles, the sheer number of people that will want to meet with her will be difficult to manage.
Translations for difficult
From our Multilingual Translation Dictionary
- moeilikAfrikaans
- صعبArabic
- çətinAzerbaijani
- ҡыйын, ауырBashkir
- цяжкі, трудныBelarusian
- труден, мъчен, тежъкBulgarian
- কঠিনBengali
- དཀའ་ངལ་ཅན, དཀའ་མོ, ཁག་པོ, དཀའ་ལས་ཁག་པོTibetan Standard
- difícilCatalan, Valencian
- obtížný, těžkýCzech
- тѩжькъOld Church Slavonic, Church Slavonic, Old Bulgarian
- caled, anoddWelsh
- vanskeligDanish
- schwer, schwierigGerman
- δύσκολοςGreek
- malfacilaEsperanto
- difícilSpanish
- keerulineEstonian
- سخت, صعب, دشوار, مشکلPersian
- vaikea, hankalaFinnish
- torførurFaroese
- difficileFrench
- swierWestern Frisian
- deacairIrish
- cruaidh, trom, doirbh, mì-fhurasda, duilichScottish Gaelic
- difícilGalician
- કઠિનGujarati
- doillee, trome, mooar, creoi, neuaashaghManx
- מסובך, קשהHebrew
- कठिन, मुश्किल, विकटHindi
- difisilHaitian Creole
- nehézHungarian
- դժվար, ծանր, բարդArmenian
- difficileInterlingua
- desfacilaIdo
- erfiðurIcelandic
- difficileItalian
- 困難, 難しいJapanese
- ძნელიGeorgian
- ауыр, қиынKazakh
- ពិបាកKhmer
- ಕಟ್Kannada
- 어렵다Korean
- زهحمهت, سهخت, گرانKurdish
- кыйын, оорKyrgyz
- difficilisLatin
- ຍາກLao
- sunkusLithuanian
- sarežģītsLatvian
- тежок, маченMacedonian
- бэрх, хүнд хэцүүMongolian
- diffiċliMaltese
- ခဲယဉ်းBurmese
- lastig, moeilijkDutch
- vanskeligNorwegian
- nantłʼahNavajo, Navaho
- malaisitOccitan
- ਕਠਿਨPanjabi, Punjabi
- trudny, ciężkiPolish
- ګران, مشکلPashto, Pushto
- difícilPortuguese
- difícil, greu, anevoios, complicatRomanian
- тяжкий, трудный, тяжёлыйRussian
- कठिनSanskrit
- težak, тежакSerbo-Croatian
- අමාරුSinhala, Sinhalese
- obtiažny, ťažkýSlovak
- težekSlovene
- vështirëAlbanian
- svårSwedish
- கடினமானTamil
- కఠినమైన, కష్టమైనTelugu
- душвор, мушкил, сахтTajik
- ยากThai
- çatak, müçgil, çetin, kynTurkmen
- mahirapTagalog
- zor, güçTurkish
- кыен, авырTatar
- трудний, важкийUkrainian
- دشوار, کٹھن, مشکلUrdu
- qiyin, mushkulUzbek
- khó, khó khănVietnamese
- שווער, האַרבYiddish
Get even more translations for difficult »
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"difficult." Synonyms.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2025. Web. 17 Feb. 2025. <https://www.synonyms.com/synonym/difficult>.
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