Synonyms for difficulty
Most common
All synonyms
Noun
1. Trouble
trouble, obstacle, dilemma, impediment, quandary, distress, hindrance, obstruction, hardship, predicament, perplexity, matter, intricacy, grief, objection, pinch, fix, hardness, trial, toughness, exigency, emergency
Other
disagreement, controversy, arduousness rare, laboriousness rare, difficultness rare
Definitions
- n. 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.
Related words
- Word family
- difficult
- Phrases
- learning difficulty
Forms
- Plural
- difficulties → troubles, obstacles, dilemmas, impediments…
Choose the right word
Difficulty makes an undertaking otherwise than easy. A difficulty or a hindrance may be either within one or without; a speaker may find difficulty in expressing himself, or difficulty in holding the attention of restless children.
J. C. Fernald, English Synonyms and Antonyms (1914)
Example sentences
- dilemma A moral dilemma can test a person’s true character.
- obstacle Bypassing this obstacle, you find your way again.
- impediment Impatience is a definite impediment to success.
- quandary Tom was in a quandary about who to vote for in the election.
- disagreement Tom intervened in his coworkers' disagreement.
Popularity over time
| Word | 1850 → 2019 | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| difficulty | falling | |
| dilemma | steady | |
| obstacle | steady | |
| impediment | steady | |
| quandary | rising | |
| disagreement | falling |
Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.
By length
- 3 letters
- fix1
- 5 letters
- trial2, grief1, pinch1
- 6 letters
- matter2
- 7 letters
- trouble2, dilemma3
- 8 letters
- distress2, obstacle3, hardship2, hardness2, quandary3, exigency4
- 9 letters
- emergency4, objection3, toughness2, hindrance2, intricacy4
- 10 letters
- impediment4, perplexity4
- 11 letters
- controversy4, obstruction3, predicament4, arduousness
- 12 letters
- disagreement4
- 13 letters
- laboriousness, difficultness
The small number after each word is its number of syllables (trial2 = 2 syllables).
In other languages
- Français
- difficulté
- Italiano
- difficoltà
- Español
- dificultad
- Deutsch
- Schwierigkeit