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DIFFICULT
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I. (adjective)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Not easy; requiring great physical or mental effort to accomplish or comprehend or endure
Example:
why is it so hard for you to keep a secret?
Synonyms:
difficult; hard
Classified under:
Similar:
trying (hard to endure)
troublesome (causing difficulty or annoyance)
thorny (bristling with perplexities)
tall (impressively difficult)
serious (requiring effort or concentration; complex and not easy to answer or solve)
rugged; tough (very difficult; severely testing stamina or resolution)
rocky; rough (full of hardship or trials)
nasty; tight (exasperatingly difficult to handle or circumvent)
herculean (extremely difficult; requiring the strength of a Hercules)
hard-fought (requiring great effort)
fractious (unpredictably difficult in operation; likely to be troublesome)
delicate; ticklish; touchy (difficult to handle; requiring great tact)
catchy; tricky (having concealed difficulty)
baffling; elusive; knotty; problematic; problematical; tough (making great mental demands; hard to comprehend or solve or believe)
awkward; embarrassing; sticky; unenviable (hard to deal with; especially causing pain or embarrassment)
arduous (difficult to accomplish; demanding considerable mental effort and skill)
ambitious; challenging (requiring full use of your abilities or resources)
vexed (causing difficulty in finding an answer or solution; much disputed)
Also:
effortful (requiring great physical effort)
demanding (requiring more than usually expected or thought due; especially great patience and effort and skill)
hard (dispassionate)
Attribute:
difficultness; difficulty (the quality of being difficult)
Antonym:
easy (posing no difficulty; requiring little effort)
Derivation:
difficultness (the quality of being difficult)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Hard to control
Example:
an unmanageable situation
Synonyms:
difficult; unmanageable
Classified under:
Similar:
indocile; uncontrollable; ungovernable; unruly (incapable of being controlled)
incorrigible (difficult or impossible to manage or control)
uncheckable (incapable of being checked or restrained)
Also:
defiant; noncompliant (boldly resisting authority or an opposing force)
disobedient (not obeying or complying with commands of those in authority)
intractable (not tractable; difficult to manage or mold)
Context examples:
I think that it is not difficult to explain the facts.
(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
Our task is now in reality more difficult than ever, and this new trouble makes every hour of the direst importance.
(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)
It was extremely difficult, I heard, to make out what he owed, or what he had paid, or of what he died possessed.
(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)
Early detection is difficult and the prognosis is generally poor.
(Cholangiocarcinoma, NCI Thesaurus)
The results of subjective evaluation may be difficult to interpret consistently.
(Decreased Peak Expiratory Flowrate, NCI Thesaurus)
The process of successfully managing difficult or challenging situations.
(Coping, NCI Thesaurus)
Metal closure that is designed or constructed to be significantly difficult for children under five years of age to open and not difficult for normal adults to use properly.
(Child Resistant Metal Container Closure, Food and Drug Administration)
Once mental illness develops, it becomes a regular part of your child's behavior and is more difficult to treat.
(Child Mental Health, NIH: National Institute of Mental Health)
This irritation causes scar tissue to form, and makes breathing difficult.
(Bronchiolitis obliterans, NCI Dictionary)
Dave refused to run quietly on the trail behind the sled, where the going was easy, but continued to flounder alongside in the soft snow, where the going was most difficult, till exhausted.
(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)
