difficulty

CEFRA2

/ˈdɪfɪkəlti/

noun

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    noun

    A problem or condition that makes something hard to do.

  2. 02

    noun

    Extra detail

    An obstacle that hinders achievement of a goal.

Examples

  • I think you'll have very little difficulty in getting a driver's license.

  • Sometimes he has difficulty being articulate about his views.

At a glance

Sits at A2 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
1
Citations
5
Synonyms
1

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meanings

  1. Physical danger from the environment, especially with risk of drowning

  2. The state of being difficult, or hard to do.

  3. An objection.

More examples

In context

  • My mom is old and has a lot of difficulty (in) remembering all her grandchildren's names.

  • We faced a difficulty in trying to book a flight so late.

  • 2012 August 2, "Children rescued after getting into difficulties in Donegal" BBC Online

Synonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

She overcame every blank during the training and finished the race successfully.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

noun

From Middle English difficulte, from Middle French and Anglo-Norman difficulte and their etymon Latin difficultas, from difficul, older form of difficilis (“hard to do, difficult”), from dis- + facilis (“easy”); see difficile and difficult. Equivalent to dis- + facile + -ty. Also analysable as difficult + -y, though the adjective is historically a backformation from the noun.