1
as in challenging
requiring considerable physical or mental effort
difficult questions on the exam that required analytical thinking
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in tough
requiring exceptional skill or caution in performance or handling
it's a difficult situation when two of your friends are quarreling and you're trying to stay out of it
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Try This Instead
Try This InsteadFor
Try This
a difficult task
a difficult time
a difficult subject
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
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Recent Examples of difficult
Diana knew her dress' 25-foot-long train was difficult to handle and let her young bridesmaids know it.
—
Stephanie Petit, People.com, 29 July 2025
The project's energy demands are difficult to overstate for Wyoming, the least populous US state.
—Beth Mole, ArsTechnica, 29 July 2025
So, too, was Torres, who made visitations with their son difficult.
—Tatiana Siegel, Variety, 29 July 2025
Speaking with director Joe Johnston, Oka explained the two most difficult things to simulate digitally at the time were human skin and water.
—Jordan Hoffman, EW.com, 15 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for difficult
Stephanie Petit, People.com, 29 July 2025
The project's energy demands are difficult to overstate for Wyoming, the least populous US state.
—Beth Mole, ArsTechnica, 29 July 2025
So, too, was Torres, who made visitations with their son difficult.
—Tatiana Siegel, Variety, 29 July 2025
Speaking with director Joe Johnston, Oka explained the two most difficult things to simulate digitally at the time were human skin and water.
—Jordan Hoffman, EW.com, 15 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for difficult
Recent Examples of Synonyms for difficult
Adjective
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Playing the raid with incredibly challenging modifiers gives you a chance at a Tier 4 Playing Trials of Osiris at anything under 400 power will not give you Tier 5s, even from a flawless chest, which now has a one per week lockout.—
Paul Tassi,
Forbes.com,
2 Aug. 2025
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In life and the garden: Try to be tolerant, don’t demand perfection and figure out how to improve challenging, tough situations.—
Rita Perwich,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
2 Aug. 2025
Adjective
-
Lamont, who had proposed boosting special education aid by $40 million — but not until July 2026 — countered that the state budget already was on pace to exceed the budget cap and that legislators needed to make tough choices and trim spending.—
Keith M. Phaneuf,
Hartford Courant,
2 Aug. 2025
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Stage eight on Saturday will mark the start of a tough weekend of reckoning for the GC riders in the mountains to conclude the Tour.—
Jessica Hopkins,
New York Times,
1 Aug. 2025
Adjective
-
Sandoval has received some pay bumps, including a temporary $10,000-a-year bonus for Hawaii special education teachers designed to alleviate shortages in that and other hard-to-staff areas.—
Alia Wong,
USA TODAY,
14 Feb. 2023
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Whether those numbers are an overstatement, or possibly an understatement, is hard to say.—
Lance Eliot,
Forbes,
13 Feb. 2023
Adjective
-
Businesses cannot process sensitive data without obtaining consumer consent.—
Karoline Leonard,
Austin American Statesman,
30 July 2025
-
There are some intense scenes During The Fantastic Four: First Steps, there are some intense scenes that may not be suitable for younger (or more sensitive) viewers.—
Jordana Comiter,
People.com,
29 July 2025
Adjective
-
These individuals know how to ask the right questions and pursue rigorous answers, skills that go far beyond academic settings.—
Leadership Brainery,
Forbes.com,
4 Aug. 2025
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Global Recognition Awards, which processes thousands of nominations annually while maintaining a rigorous rejection rate, reports that its winners experience an average 40% increase in qualified leads within months of the award announcement.—
Ascend Agency,
Mercury News,
4 Aug. 2025
Adjective
-
True resource guarding is a serious issue that often involves strong warning signals from the dog—and can be problematic if left unaddressed.—
Maria Morava,
MSNBC Newsweek,
25 July 2025
-
These are problematic, to say the least, as an exploit of the same could lead to the possibility of arbitrary code execution within the browser.—
Davey Winder,
Forbes.com,
24 July 2025
Adjective
-
While speed-scouting for deer usually requires boots-on-the-ground, pheasant scouting isn’t usually so demanding.—
Natalie Krebs,
Outdoor Life,
30 July 2025
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The short schedule also gave Brie and Franco the inspiration to throw themselves into the more physically demanding aspects of the roles.—
Jim Hemphill,
IndieWire,
29 July 2025
Adjective
-
The bullpen, led by closer Edwin Díaz, looks formidable.—
Will Sammon,
New York Times,
1 Aug. 2025
-
Minnesota Twins – Faced with formidable financial worries, the former home of Harmon Killebrew, Tony Oliva, Rod Carew, and Jim Kaat spent the deadline dumping salaries.—
Dan Schlossberg,
Forbes.com,
1 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Difficult.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/difficult. Accessed 8 Aug. 2025.
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