Difficulty

  • 1difficulty — difficulty, hardship, rigor, vicissitude are synonyms only when they mean something which demands effort and endurance if it is to be overcome or one s end achieved. Difficulty, the most widely applicable of these terms, applies to any condition …

    New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • 2Difficulty — Dif fi*cul*ty, n.; pl. {Difficulties}. [L. difficultas, fr. difficilis difficult; dif = dis + facilis easy: cf. F. difficult[ e]. See {Facile}.] 1. The state of being difficult, or hard to do; hardness; arduousness; opposed to {easiness} or… …

    The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • 3difficulty — [dif′i kul΄tē, dif′ikəl΄tē] n. pl. difficulties [ME & OFr difficulte < L difficultas < difficilis, difficult < dis , not + facilis, easy: see FACILE] 1. the condition or fact of being difficult 2. something that is difficult, as a hard… …

    English World dictionary

  • 4difficulty — [n1] problem; situation requiring great effort adversity, arduousness, awkwardness, barricade, check, complication, crisis, crux, dead end, deadlock, deep water*, dilemma, distress, emergency, exigency, fix*, frustration, hardship, hazard,… …

    New thesaurus

  • 5difficulty — late 14c., from O.Fr. difficulté, from L. difficultatem (nom. difficultas) difficulty, distress, poverty, from difficilis hard, from dis not, away from (see DIS (Cf. dis )) + facilis easy (see FACILE (Cf. facile)) …

    Etymology dictionary

  • 6difficulty — index adversity, aggravation (annoyance), bar (obstruction), burden, complex (entanglement) …

    Law dictionary

  • 7difficulty — ► NOUN (pl. difficulties) 1) the state or condition of being difficult. 2) a difficult or dangerous situation or circumstance. ORIGIN Latin difficultas, from facultas ability, opportunity …

    English terms dictionary

  • 8difficulty — noun ADJECTIVE ▪ considerable, enormous, extreme, grave, great, major, real, serious, severe ▪ We had enormous difficulty …

    Collocations dictionary

  • 9difficulty */*/*/ — UK [ˈdɪfɪk(ə)ltɪ] / US [ˈdɪfɪkəltɪ] noun Word forms difficulty : singular difficulty plural difficulties Metaphor: A difficult idea or situation is like a knot or something that is tied up, tangled, or twisted. When you deal with it successfully …

    English dictionary

  • 10difficulty — dif|fi|cul|ty [ dıfıkəlti ] noun *** 1. ) uncount how difficult something is: The courses vary in content and difficulty. 2. ) uncount if you have difficulty with something, you are not able to do it easily: difficulty (in) doing something: Six… …

    Usage of the words and phrases in modern English