Dictionary entry details
• DIFFICULTY (noun)
Meaning:
An effort that is inconvenient
Classified under:
Nouns denoting acts or actions
Synonyms:
difficulty; trouble
Context examples:
I went to a lot of trouble / he won without any trouble / had difficulty walking / finished the test only with great difficulty
Hypernyms ("difficulty" is a kind of...):
effort; elbow grease; exertion; sweat; travail (use of physical or mental energy; hard work)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "difficulty"):
the devil (something difficult or awkward to do or deal with)
tsuris ((Yiddish) aggravating trouble)
Meaning:
A factor causing trouble in achieving a positive result or tending to produce a negative result
Classified under:
Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents
Context example:
serious difficulties were encountered in obtaining a pure reagent
Hypernyms ("difficulty" is a kind of...):
cognitive factor (something immaterial (as a circumstance or influence) that contributes to producing a result)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "difficulty"):
wrinkle (a minor difficulty)
balk; baulk; check; deterrent; handicap; hinderance; hindrance; impediment (something immaterial that interferes with or delays action or progress)
snorter (something outstandingly difficult)
booby trap; pitfall (an unforeseen or unexpected or surprising difficulty)
pisser (a very disagreeable difficulty)
kink (a difficulty or flaw in a plan or operation)
killer (a difficulty that is hard to deal with)
facer ((a dated Briticism) a serious difficulty with which one is suddenly faced)
problem; trouble (a source of difficulty)
Meaning:
A condition or state of affairs almost beyond one's ability to deal with and requiring great effort to bear or overcome
Classified under:
Nouns denoting stable states of affairs
Context example:
grappling with financial difficulties
Hypernyms ("difficulty" is a kind of...):
condition; status (a state at a particular time)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "difficulty"):
urinary hesitancy (difficulty in beginning the flow of urine; associated with prostate enlargement in men and with narrowing of the urethral opening in women; may be caused by emotional stress in either men or women)
situation (a complex or critical or unusual difficulty)
job; problem (a state of difficulty that needs to be resolved)
mire (a difficulty or embarrassment that is hard to extricate yourself from)
strain; stress (difficulty that causes worry or emotional tension)
hard time; rough sledding (a difficulty that can be overcome with effort)
fix; hole; jam; kettle of fish; mess; muddle; pickle (informal terms for a difficult situation)
pinch (a painful or straitened circumstance)
rattrap (a difficult entangling situation)
plight; predicament; quandary (a situation from which extrication is difficult especially an unpleasant or trying one)
bitch (an unpleasant difficulty)
wall (a difficult or awkward situation)
Meaning:
The quality of being difficult
Classified under:
Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects
Synonyms:
difficultness; difficulty
Context example:
they agreed about the difficulty of the climb
Hypernyms ("difficulty" is a kind of...):
quality (an essential and distinguishing attribute of something or someone)
Attribute:
difficult; hard (not easy; requiring great physical or mental effort to accomplish or comprehend or endure)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "difficulty"):
inconvenience; troublesomeness; worriment (a difficulty that causes anxiety)
niceness; subtlety (the quality of being difficult to detect or analyze)
burdensomeness; heaviness; onerousness; oppressiveness (unwelcome burdensome difficulty)
formidability; toughness (impressive difficulty)
hardness; ruggedness (the quality of being difficult to do)
asperity; grimness; hardship; rigor; rigorousness; rigour; rigourousness; severeness; severity (something hard to endure)
effortfulness (the quality of requiring deliberate effort)
Antonym:
ease (freedom from difficulty or hardship or effort)
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