Standard Lemma guide

difficult

adj · verb · 6 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • /ˈdɪfɪkəlt/
  • UK: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: D IH1 F AH0 K AH0 L T Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Hard, not easy, requiring much effort.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • difficult of accomplishment
  • However, the difficult weather conditions will ensure Yunnan has plenty of freshwater.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

adj

Meaning 2

Hard to manage, uncooperative, troublesome.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: often

Qualifier: or a horse; etc; or a horse; etc

Examples

  • Stop being difficult and eat your broccoli—you know it's good for you.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

adj

Meaning 3

Unable or unwilling.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: obsolete

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

verb

Meaning 4

To make difficult, hinder; to impede; to perplex.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: obsolete, transitive

Examples

  • August 9 1678, William Temple, letter to Joseph Williamson their Excellencies having desisted from their pretensions , which had difficulted the peace

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

adjective

Meaning 5

not easy; requiring great physical or mental effort to accomplish or comprehend or endure

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • 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?

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: hard

Antonyms: easy

6

adjective

Meaning 6

hard to control,

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • a difficult child
  • an unmanageable situation

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: unmanageable

Antonyms: none provided

History

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.

Across languages

Translations

239 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Afrikaans: moeilik — hard, not easy
  • Albanian: i vështirë — hard, not easy
  • Amharic: አስቸጋሪ (ʾäsčägari) — hard, not easy
  • Arabic: صَعْب (ṣaʕb) — hard, not easy
  • Arabic: واعر (waʕr) — hard, not easy
  • Armenian: դժվար (džvar) — hard, not easy
  • Armenian: բարդ (bard) — hard, not easy
  • Armenian: ծանր (canr) — hard, not easy
  • Assamese: টান (tan) — hard, not easy
  • Asturian: difícil — hard, not easy
  • Azerbaijani: çətin — hard, not easy
  • Azerbaijani: düşvar — hard, not easy
  • Bashkir: ҡыйын (qıyın) — hard, not easy
  • Bashkir: ауыр (awır) — hard, not easy
  • Basque: nekez — hard, not easy
  • Basque: zail — hard, not easy
  • Belarusian: ця́жкі (cjážki) — hard, not easy
  • Belarusian: тру́дны (trúdny) — hard, not easy
  • Bengali: কঠিন (koṭhin) — hard, not easy
  • Central Bikol: dipisil — hard, not easy
  • Central Bikol: masakit — hard, not easy
  • Breton: diaes — hard, not easy
  • Bulgarian: тру́ден (trúden) — hard, not easy
  • Bulgarian: мъ́чен (mǎ́čen) — hard, not easy
  • Bulgarian: те́жък (téžǎk) — hard, not easy
  • Burmese: ခဲယဉ်း (hkai:yany:) — hard, not easy
  • Burmese: ခက် (hkak) — hard, not easy
  • Catalan: difícil — hard, not easy
  • Cebuano: lisud — hard, not easy
  • Chamicuro: yeewa — hard, not easy
  • Chechen: хала (xala) — hard, not easy
  • Cherokee: ᎤᏦᏍᏗ (utsosdi) — hard, not easy
  • Cherokee: ᏍᏓᏯ (sdaya) — hard, not easy
  • Chinese Cantonese: 難 /难 (naan4) — hard, not easy
  • Chinese Cantonese: 困難 /困难 (kwan3 naan4) — hard, not easy
  • Chinese Mandarin: 難 /难 (nán) — hard, not easy
  • Chinese Mandarin: 困難 /困难 (kùnnán) — hard, not easy
  • Chinese Mandarin: 艱難 /艰难 (jiānnán) — hard, not easy
  • Wu Chinese: 難 /难 — hard, not easy
  • Choctaw: pʋlʋmmi — hard, not easy
  • Chukchi: аӈъачеты (aṇʺačety) — hard, not easy
  • Crimean Tatar: qıyın — hard, not easy
  • Czech: obtížný — hard, not easy
  • Czech: těžký — hard, not easy
  • Danish: vanskelig — hard, not easy
  • Dutch: moeilijk — hard, not easy
  • Egyptian: q-qs-n:nDs (qsn) — hard, not easy
  • Esperanto: malfacila — hard, not easy
  • Estonian: keeruline — hard, not easy
  • Ewe: sẽ̌ — hard, not easy
  • Faroese: torførur — hard, not easy
  • Finnish: vaikea — hard, not easy
  • Finnish: hankala — hard, not easy
  • French: difficile — hard, not easy
  • West-Frisian: swier — hard, not easy
  • Galician: difícil — hard, not easy
  • Galician: arrevesado — hard, not easy
  • Georgian: ძნელი (ʒneli) — hard, not easy
  • Georgian: რთული (rtuli) — hard, not easy
  • Georgian: მძიმე (mʒime) — hard, not easy
  • German: schwer — hard, not easy
  • German: schwierig — hard, not easy
  • Gothic: 𐌰𐌲𐌻𐌿𐍃 (aglus) — hard, not easy
  • Greek: δύσκολος (dýskolos) — hard, not easy
  • Ancient Greek: χαλεπός (khalepós) — hard, not easy
  • Ancient Greek: δυσχερής (duskherḗs) — hard, not easy
  • Greenlandic: sapernarpoq — hard, not easy
  • Gujarati: કઠિન (kaṭhin) — hard, not easy
  • Haitian Creole: difisil — hard, not easy
  • Hebrew: קָשֶׁה (kashé) — hard, not easy
  • Hebrew: מסובך (mesubbakh) — hard, not easy
  • Hindi: कठिन (kaṭhin) — hard, not easy
  • Hindi: विकट (vikaṭ) — hard, not easy
  • Hindi: मुश्किल (muśkil) — hard, not easy
  • Hindi: दुश्वार (duśvār) — hard, not easy
  • Hindi: दूभर (dūbhar) — hard, not easy
  • Hungarian: nehéz — hard, not easy
  • Icelandic: erfiður — hard, not easy
  • Ido: desfacila — hard, not easy
  • Ilocano: narigat — hard, not easy
  • Indonesian: sukar — hard, not easy
  • Indonesian: susah — hard, not easy
  • Indonesian: sulit — hard, not easy
  • Ingush: хала (xala) — hard, not easy
  • Interlingua: difficile — hard, not easy
  • Irish: deacair — hard, not easy
  • Old Irish: ansae — hard, not easy
  • Italian: difficile — hard, not easy
  • Japanese: 難しい (muzukashii) — hard, not easy
  • Japanese: 困難な (konnan na) — hard, not easy
  • Jeju: 어렵다 (eoryeopda) — hard, not easy
  • Jeju: 심들다 (simdeulda) — hard, not easy
  • Kabuverdianu: puxadu — hard, not easy
  • Kabuverdianu: pexóde — hard, not easy
  • Kabuverdianu: rabés — hard, not easy
  • Kannada: ಕಟ್ (kaṭ) — hard, not easy
  • Kazakh: қиын (qiyn) — hard, not easy
  • Kazakh: ауыр (auyr) — hard, not easy
  • Khmer: ពិបាក (pi’baak) — hard, not easy
  • Khmer: យ៉ាប់ (yap) — hard, not easy
  • Korean: 어렵다 (eoryeopda) — hard, not easy
  • Korean: 힘들다 (himdeulda) — hard, not easy
  • Central Kurdish: زەحمەت (zeḧmet) — hard, not easy
  • Central Kurdish: گران (gran) — hard, not easy
  • Central Kurdish: سەخت (sext) — hard, not easy
  • Kyrgyz: кыйын (kıyın) — hard, not easy
  • Kyrgyz: оор (oor) — hard, not easy
  • Ladino: difísil — hard, not easy
  • Ladino: zor — hard, not easy
  • Lao: ຍາກ (nyāk) — hard, not easy
  • Latin: difficilis — hard, not easy
  • Latvian: sarežģīts — hard, not easy
  • Latvian: grūts — hard, not easy
  • Lithuanian: sunkus — hard, not easy
  • Macedonian: тежок (težok) — hard, not easy
  • Macedonian: мачен (mačen) — hard, not easy
  • Malay: sukar — hard, not easy
  • Malay: susah — hard, not easy
  • Brunei Malay: payah — hard, not easy
  • Maltese: diffiċli — hard, not easy
  • Manx: doillee — hard, not easy
  • Manx: creoi — hard, not easy
  • Manx: trome — hard, not easy
  • Manx: mooar — hard, not easy
  • Manx: neuaashagh — hard, not easy
  • Māori: whēuaua — hard, not easy
  • Māori: uaua — hard, not easy
  • Māori: taumaha hārukiruki — hard, not easy
  • Marathi: अवघड (avghaḍ) — hard, not easy
  • Marathi: कठीण (kaṭhīṇ) — hard, not easy
  • Mirandese: defícel — hard, not easy
  • Mon: ဝါတ် (wāt) — hard, not easy
  • Mongolian: хэцүү (xecüü) — hard, not easy
  • Mongolian: хүнд (xünd) — hard, not easy
  • Mongolian: бэрх (berx) — hard, not easy
  • Mongolian: хүчир (xüčir) — hard, not easy
  • Khiamniungan Naga: tshīk — hard, not easy
  • Navajo: nantłʼah — hard, not easy
  • Norwegian: vanskelig — hard, not easy
  • Occitan: malaisit — hard, not easy
  • Occitan: dificil — hard, not easy
  • Church Slavic: тѩжькъ (tjęžĭkŭ) — hard, not easy
  • Old English: earfoþe — hard, not easy
  • Pashto: ګران (grân) — hard, not easy
  • Pashto: مشکل (muškil) — hard, not easy
  • Persian: دشوار (došvâr) — hard, not easy
  • Persian: مشکل (moškel) — hard, not easy
  • Persian: سخت (saxt) — hard, not easy
  • Persian: صعب (sa'b) — hard, not easy
  • Polish: trudny — hard, not easy
  • Polish: ciężki — hard, not easy
  • Portuguese: difícil — hard, not easy
  • Punjabi: ਕਠਿਨ (kaṭhin) — hard, not easy
  • Quechua: sasa — hard, not easy
  • Romanian: greu — hard, not easy
  • Romanian: dificil — hard, not easy
  • Romanian: anevoios — hard, not easy
  • Romanian: complicat — hard, not easy
  • Russian: тру́дный (trúdnyj) — hard, not easy
  • Russian: тяжёлый (tjažólyj) — hard, not easy
  • Russian: тя́жкий (tjážkij) — hard, not easy
  • Russian: сло́жный (slóžnyj) — hard, not easy
  • Northern Sami: váttis — hard, not easy
  • Samoan: faigatā — hard, not easy
  • Sanskrit: कठिन (kaṭhina) — hard, not easy
  • Scottish Gaelic: doirbh — hard, not easy
  • Scottish Gaelic: mì-fhurasda — hard, not easy
  • Scottish Gaelic: cruaidh — hard, not easy
  • Scottish Gaelic: trom — hard, not easy
  • Scottish Gaelic: duilich — hard, not easy
  • Serbo-Croatian: тежак — hard, not easy
  • Serbo-Croatian: težak — hard, not easy
  • Sinhalese: අමාරු (amāru) — hard, not easy
  • Slovak: obtiažny — hard, not easy
  • Slovak: ťažký — hard, not easy
  • Slovene: težek — hard, not easy
  • Upper Sorbian: ćežki — hard, not easy
  • Spanish: difícil — hard, not easy
  • Spanish: dificultoso — hard, not easy
  • Swedish: svår — hard, not easy
  • Tagalog: mahirap — hard, not easy
  • Tahitian: fifi — hard, not easy
  • Tajik: мушкил (muškil) — hard, not easy
  • Tajik: душвор (dušvor) — hard, not easy
  • Tajik: сахт (saxt) — hard, not easy
  • Tamil: கடினமான (kaṭiṉamāṉa) — hard, not easy
  • Tatar: кыен (qıyın) — hard, not easy
  • Tatar: авыр (awır) — hard, not easy
  • Tày: cáo quán — hard, not easy
  • Telugu: కఠినమైన (kaṭhinamaina) — hard, not easy
  • Telugu: కష్టమైన (kaṣṭamaina) — hard, not easy
  • Tetum: susar — hard, not easy
  • Thai: ยาก (yâak) — hard, not easy
  • Thai: ลําบาก (lam-bàak) — hard, not easy
  • Tibetan: ཁག་པོ (khag po) — hard, not easy
  • Tibetan: དཀའ་ལས་ཁག་པོ (dka' las khag po) — hard, not easy
  • Tibetan: དཀའ་མོ (dka' mo) — hard, not easy
  • Tibetan: དཀའ་ངལ་ཅན (dka' ngal can) — hard, not easy
  • Tocharian B: waimene — hard, not easy
  • Tocharian B: āmāskai — hard, not easy
  • Tokelauan: fagatā — hard, not easy
  • Tongan: faingataʻa — hard, not easy
  • Turkish: zor — hard, not easy
  • Turkish: güç — hard, not easy
  • Turkish: müşkül — hard, not easy
  • Turkish: çetin — hard, not easy
  • Turkish: kıyın — hard, not easy
  • Turkish: düşvar — hard, not easy
  • Turkish: ağır — hard, not easy
  • Ottoman Turkish: دشوار (düşvâr) — hard, not easy
  • Turkmen: çatak — hard, not easy
  • Turkmen: çetin — hard, not easy
  • Turkmen: kyn — hard, not easy
  • Turkmen: müçgil — hard, not easy
  • Ukrainian: важки́й (važkýj) — hard, not easy
  • Ukrainian: трудни́й (trudnýj) — hard, not easy
  • Urdu: مشکل (muśkil) — hard, not easy
  • Urdu: دشوار (duśvār) — hard, not easy
  • Urdu: کٹھن (kaṭhin) — hard, not easy
  • Uyghur: قىيىن (qiyin) — hard, not easy
  • Uyghur: مۈشكۈل (müshkül) — hard, not easy
  • Uzbek: qiyin — hard, not easy
  • Uzbek: mushkul — hard, not easy
  • Uzbek: murakkab — hard, not easy
  • Vietnamese: khó — hard, not easy
  • Vietnamese: khó khăn — hard, not easy
  • Volapük: fikulik — hard, not easy
  • Welsh: anodd — hard, not easy
  • Welsh: caled — hard, not easy
  • Yiddish: שווער (shver) — hard, not easy
  • Yiddish: האַרב (harb) — hard, not easy
  • Yoruba: le — hard, not easy
  • Dutch: moeilijk — hard to manage (said of a person, horse, etc.)
  • German: schwierig — hard to manage (said of a person, horse, etc.)
  • Ancient Greek: χαλεπός (khalepós) — hard to manage (said of a person, horse, etc.)
  • Icelandic: erfiður — hard to manage (said of a person, horse, etc.)
  • Irish: ciotach — hard to manage (said of a person, horse, etc.)
  • Kabuverdianu: rabés — hard to manage (said of a person, horse, etc.)
  • Latin: difficilis — hard to manage (said of a person, horse, etc.)
Real reading context

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