Synonyms for difficult
- adjective
Most common
All synonyms
Adjective
1. Hard — hard, not easy, requiring much effort
hard, tough, arduous, problematic, troublesome, challenging, tricky, trying, complicated, onerous, rough, herculean, exhausting, unmanageable, problematical, awkward, laborious, cumbersome, complex, rocky, burdensome, nasty UK
Other
opposed, unaccommodating rare
Definitions
- adj. 1
Hard, not easy, requiring much effort.
difficult of accomplishment
Related words
- Word family
- difficultness
From weakest to strongest
From the opposite of difficult, on the left, to its strongest synonyms, on the right.
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Hard is simpler, blunter, and more general in sense than difficult; as, a hard duty to perform, hard work, a hard task, one which requires much bodily effort and perseverance to do. Difficult commonly implies more skill and sagacity than hard, as when there is disproportion between the means and the end.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
Example sentences
- challenging Is Egypt challenging Algeria's regional interests?
- problematic For me, interpreting the question was problematic.
- troublesome Nothing is troublesome that one does willingly.
- arduous She went through a long and arduous vocational course.
Popularity over time
| Word | 1850 → 2019 | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| difficult | steady | |
| challenging | rising | |
| problematic | rising | |
| troublesome | falling | |
| arduous | steady |
Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.
By length
- 4 letters
- hard1
- 5 letters
- tough1, rough1, rocky2, nasty2
- 6 letters
- trying2, tricky2
- 7 letters
- complex2, opposed2, awkward2, arduous3, onerous3
- 9 letters
- laborious4, herculean4
- 10 letters
- exhausting3, cumbersome3, burdensome3
- 11 letters
- complicated4, challenging3, problematic4, troublesome3
- 12 letters
- unmanageable5
- 13 letters
- problematical5
- 15 letters
- unaccommodating
The small number after each word is its number of syllables (rocky2 = 2 syllables).