difficult
[dif-i-kuhlt, -kuhlt]
adjective
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Irregular Verbs Are Irregularly DifficultVerbs (the action words in sentences) are grouped as either regular and irregular, based on whether they follow standard rules of conjugation. Some common irregular verbs include go, have, make, say, take, and know. Regular Verbs To form the past tense of a regular verb, just add -d or -ed to the end of it. For example, learn becomes learned in the past tense. Irregular …
RELATED WORDS
troublesome, crucial, tough, problematic, arduous, onerous, demanding, severe, strenuous, ambitious, burdensome, laborious, painful, challenging, complex, delicate, confusing, grim, intractable, gargantuan
Nearby words
- differentiate,
- differentiation,
- differentiator,
- differently,
- difficile,
- difficulty,
- diffidence,
- diffident,
- diffidently,
- diffluence
Origin of difficult
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Examples from the Web for difficult
difficult
adjective
Word Origin for difficult
C14: back formation from difficulty
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
difficult
c.1400, apparently a back-formation from difficulty. French has difficile, Latin difficilis. Of persons, "hard to please," from 1580s.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper