Standard Lemma guide

problematical

adj · 4 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.

  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: P R AA2 B L AH0 M AE1 T IH0 K AH0 L Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Doubtful or disputed.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

adj

Meaning 2

Dubious or ambiguous.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

adjective satellite

Meaning 3

making great mental demands; hard to comprehend or solve or believe

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • a baffling problem
  • I faced the knotty problem of what to have for breakfast
  • a problematic situation at home

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: baffling, elusive, knotty, problematic, tough

Antonyms: none provided

4

adjective satellite

Meaning 4

open to doubt or debate

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • If you ever get married, which seems to be extremely problematic

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: debatable, problematic

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

From Latin problēmaticus + -al. By surface analysis, problematic + -al.