difficulty

noun

dif·​fi·​cul·​ty ˈdi-fi-(ˌ)kəl-tē 

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

Synonyms

• adversity
• asperity
• hardness
• hardship
• rigor

Example Sentences

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

For those who continue to have difficulty sleeping, Bhopal says cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia may help. —Janelle Chavez, CNN, 25 Jan. 2023

Some people closer to the incident may also have difficulty sleeping or be jittery. —Los Angeles Times, 24 Jan. 2023

As a result, such startups will spend too much time creating these features and will have tremendous difficulty marketing them. —Igor Ryabenkiy, Forbes, 24 Jan. 2023

The driver had difficulty maintaining his balance during field sobriety tests and was arrested for operating a vehicle while intoxicated. —cleveland, 21 Jan. 2023

But the Cavaliers often have difficulty putting teams away thanks to lengthy scoring droughts. —Eddie Timanus, USA TODAY, 20 Jan. 2023

When the ground is covered in snow, snowshoes give you the ability to move across the powder without difficulty. —Déjà Leonard, Popular Mechanics, 19 Jan. 2023

Defense lawyers contacted by Variety predicted that the state will have difficulty meeting that standard. —Gene Maddaus, Variety, 19 Jan. 2023

Liquid formulations are easier to take for children, some of whom might have difficulty swallowing capsules. —Alena Naiden, Anchorage Daily News, 14 Jan. 2023

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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

Phrases Containing difficulty

• learning difficulty

• learning difficulty

Kids Definition

difficulty

noun

dif·​fi·​cul·​ty ˈdif-ə-(ˌ)kəl-tē 

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