difficulty

noun

dif·​fi·​cul·​ty ˈdi-fi-(ˌ)kəl-tē How to pronounce difficulty (audio)
plural difficulties
1
: the quality or state of being hard to do, deal with, or understand : the quality or state of being difficult
underestimated the difficulty of the task
has difficulty reading
climbs stairs with difficulty
2
: controversy, disagreement
unable to resolve their difficulties
3
: objection
made no difficulty in granting the request
4
: something difficult : impediment
encountering difficulties along the way
5
: embarrassment, trouble
usually used in plural
financial difficulties

Examples of difficulty in a Sentence

She underestimated the difficulty of saving so much money. the many difficulties that he encountered on the road from poor orphan to head of a major corporation
Recent Examples on the Web The display points up the difficulty Biden faces in dealing with the war in Gaza that was sparked by Hamas' massacre of more than 1,000 Israeli civilians on Oct. 7. Fox News Staff, Fox News, 8 Mar. 2024 Her father had described the family roots of his emotional struggles and the difficulty of acknowledging that pain. Thom Duffy, Billboard, 8 Mar. 2024 Within an hour the former president of the center responded detailing the past difficulties in maintaining the event. Stephanie Breijo, Los Angeles Times, 8 Mar. 2024 Here’s this doe-eyed farm boy who doesn’t really know what’s going on, and is then faced with the first difficulty of the Empire. Abbey White, The Hollywood Reporter, 8 Mar. 2024 Recommended Compassion Biden’s food drops in Gaza underscore difficulties with Israel Germany favors the more cautious approach. Ned Temko, The Christian Science Monitor, 7 Mar. 2024 According to one of his sons, Alexander, via 7NEWS Australia, Clarke, who was with his best friend during the ascent, had difficulty breathing. David Chiu, Peoplemag, 7 Mar. 2024 That leaves banks a little poorer and less able to withstand economic difficulties. Melvin Backman, Quartz, 7 Mar. 2024 But in some areas, vessels’ AIS signals can’t reach the satellites, either because reception is poor or many boats are crowded together – much as cellphones can have difficulty sending text messages in remote wildness or in crowded stadiums. Heather Welch, The Conversation, 6 Mar. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'difficulty.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Middle English difficulte, borrowed from Anglo-French & Latin; Anglo-French difficulté, borrowed from Latin difficultāt-, difficultās, from difficilis "hard to do, troublesome, intractable" (from dif-, probably assimilated form of dis- dis- + facilis "easy, accommodating") + -tāt-, -tās -ty — more at facile

Note: Latin difficultās presumably goes back to *dis-fakli-tāts and follows the same path as the base word, from *faklitāts to attested facultās (see faculty), with regular vowel weakening in a non-initial syllable. The word difficilis is derivationally peculiar, as the prefix dis- is regularly applied only to verbs and is not primarily privative—the expected negative counterpart to facilis should have been *infacilis. It has been hypothesized that dis- in this case is a permutation of *dus-, corresponding to Greek dys- "bad, ill" (see dys-; *dus- is otherwise unattested in Latin), or that difficilis is modeled on dissimilis "unlike" (see dissimilar; the adjective similis "like" takes a range of ordinarily verbal prefixes, perhaps following Greek equivalents). Neither solution is entirely satisfactory.

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of difficulty was in the 14th century

Dictionary Entries Near difficulty

Cite this Entry

“Difficulty.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/difficulty. Accessed 18 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

difficulty

noun
dif·​fi·​cul·​ty ˈdif-ə-(ˌ)kəl-tē How to pronounce difficulty (audio)
plural difficulties
1
: difficult nature
the difficulty of a task
2
: great effort
walked with difficulty
3
: something that is hard to do : obstacle
overcome difficulties
4
: a difficult or trying situation : trouble
in financial difficulties
5
: a disagreement in opinion
we ironed out our difficulties

More from Merriam-Webster on difficulty

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