difficulty

noun

dif·fi·cul·ty | \ -(ˌ)kəl-tē

plural difficulties

Definition of difficulty

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 More Example Sentences Learn More about difficulty

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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 difficulties UConn has had getting fans to games has translated into a drop in home-game revenue, which can be crippling for an athletic department at a university that is facing financial hurdles. — Kelli Stacy, courant.com, "Historically Low Attendance At UConn Men's Basketball, Football Games As Programs Try To Rebuild," 10 July 2018 One of the big challenges that has prevented a rover from exploring the far side before is the difficulty of making contact with Earth. — David Grossman, Popular Mechanics, "China's Rover Sends Back Pictures From the Far Side of the Moon," 7 Jan. 2019 At times, the game also touches on the difficulties of being able to truly understand the lives of others. — Andrew Webster, The Verge, "Red Dead Redemption 2 is the most convincing open-world game ever made," 25 Oct. 2018 The longer-term goals are laudable, but the company seems to seriously underestimate the difficulty of reaching lunar ice, harvesting it under extremely cold conditions, and producing propellant from ice. — Eric Berger, Ars Technica, "A Japanese company has announced a long-term plan to develop the Moon," 26 Sep. 2018 Alyssa prefers to compare the difficulty of a craft to salsa flavors, as in mild, medium, and spicy—which makes this project is a clear medium. — Danielle Tullo, House Beautiful, "Your Next D.I.Wine Night Is Planned, and You're Making Rock Vases," 21 Sep. 2018 Her worsening symptoms — the forgetfulness and confusion, the difficulties communicating and organizing activities — weren’t just stress or the normal wear and tear of aging. — Linda Marsa, Discover Magazine, "A New Treatment for Alzheimer's? It Starts With Lifestyle," 16 Nov. 2018 Since its launch in 2013, Deciem has been known for two things: instantly sold-out beauty products from its in-house brand, The Ordinary, and apparent internal difficulties often aired publicly on Instagram. — Leah Prinzivalli, Allure, "Deciem's Founder Says the Skin-Care Brand Is Temporarily Shutting Down," 8 Oct. 2018 In the adult design world, constraints are a creative opportunity, but these loose parts intentionally minimize the degree of difficulty. — Alexandra Lange, Curbed, "How not to cheat children: Let them build their own playgrounds," 18 July 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'difficulty.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

History and Etymology for difficulty

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.