difficulty
Americannoun
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difficulties
plural
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the fact or condition of being difficult.
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Often difficulties. an embarrassing situation, especially of financial affairs.
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a trouble or struggle.
- Synonyms:
- problem
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a cause of trouble, struggle, or embarrassment.
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a disagreement or dispute.
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reluctance; unwillingness.
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a demur; objection.
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something that is hard to do, understand, or surmount; an impediment or obstacle.
noun
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the state or quality of being difficult
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a task, problem, etc, that is hard to deal with
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(often plural) a troublesome or embarrassing situation, esp a financial one
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a dispute or disagreement
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(often plural) an objection or obstacle
he always makes difficulties
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a trouble or source of trouble; worry
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lack of ease; awkwardness
he could run only with difficulty
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of difficulty
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English difficulte, from Anglo-French, from Latin difficultās, equivalent to difficil(is) difficile + -tās -ty 2
Explanation
A difficulty is anything that gives you a hard or difficult time. If you eat a lot of chips and dip before dinner, you may have some difficulty finishing your meal. A difficulty is anything that causes problems. Forgetting an answer during a test could be a difficulty. A broken leg is a more painful difficulty. A poor economy is a difficulty, and losing your job is a more personal difficulty. A difficulty is also anything that’s not easy to do, like becoming a doctor or lifting a huge weight. Difficulties are generally serious or hard to overcome. If you’re having difficulty, you’re having troubles.
Vocabulary lists containing difficulty
Messenger
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Spelling Practice, Unit 5
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Predicament, List 1
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Austen will never go out of style because we’re not going to reach a point when we stop worrying about money, status and the gobsmacking difficulty of telling someone you love them.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2026
The breakthrough, described in a study published in Cell, could help overcome some of the biggest obstacles facing cancer immunotherapy, including the difficulty of manufacturing enough immune cells and keeping them active in the body.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 16, 2026
It added that when a family has difficulty paying the remainder, the school can draw on a social fund financed by the education ministry.
From Barron's ● Oct. 16, 2026
Other executives were more circumspect about the difficulty of any expansion plans.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 14, 2026
For the youngest, songs with three notes are an excellent place to start, because these children will not have much difficulty imitating or matching these pitches and can be successful from the outset.
From "Music and the Child" by Natalie Sarrazin
The continuing difficulties in U.S. talks with Mexico recall a similar falling out with Canadian officials.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 15, 2026
Both are associated with the progressive damage to brain cells that contributes to memory problems, changes in personality, and difficulties with thinking.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 15, 2026
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that his country had "some difficulties... about Starlink and about intelligence" as it confronted Russian attacks on Wednesday.
From Barron's ● Oct. 14, 2026
At the moment it is a greenfield site, but insiders say there should be no difficulties completing the project by 2030.
From BBC ● Oct. 13, 2026
“Mr. Rosenbluth led me to believe that you were having difficulties of a...personal nature.”
From "Water for Elephants" by Sara Gruen
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
