Definitions for difficulty
ˈdɪf ɪˌkʌl ti, -kəl tidif·fi·cul·ty

Princeton's WordNetRate this definition:1.0 / 1 vote

1. trouble, difficultynoun

   an effort that is inconvenient

   "I went to a lot of trouble"; "he won without any trouble"; "had difficulty walking"; "finished the test only with great difficulty"

2. difficultynoun

   a factor causing trouble in achieving a positive result or tending to produce a negative result

   "serious difficulties were encountered in obtaining a pure reagent"

3. difficultynoun

   a condition or state of affairs almost beyond one's ability to deal with and requiring great effort to bear or overcome

   "grappling with financial difficulties"

4. difficulty, difficultnessnoun

   the quality of being difficult

   "they agreed about the difficulty of the climb"

WiktionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. difficultynoun

   The state of being difficult, or hard to do.

2. difficultynoun

   An obstacle that hinders achievement of a goal.

   We faced a difficulty.

3. Etymology: From difficultee, from difficulté, from difficultas, from difficul, older form of difficilis, from dis- + facilis; see difficile and difficult.

Samuel Johnson's DictionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Difficultynoun

   Etymology: from difficult; difficultè, French.

   1. Hardness; contrariety to easiness or facility.

   The religion which, by this covenant, we engage ourselves to observe, is a work of labour and difficulty; a service that requires our greatest care and attention to the discharge of it. John Rogers, Serm. 13.

   2. That which is hard to accomplish; that which is not easy.

   They mistake difficulties for impossibilities: a pernicious mistake certainly; and the more pernicious, for that men are seldom convinced of it, ’till their convictions do them no good. Robert South, Sermons.

   3. Distress; opposition.

   Thus, by degrees, he rose to Jove’s imperial seat:
   Thus difficulties prove a soul legitimately great. Dryden.

   4. Perplexity in affairs; uneasiness of circumstances.

   They lie at present under some difficulties, by reason of the emperor’s displeasure, who has forbidden the importation of their manufactures. Joseph Addison, on Italy.

   5. Objection; cavil.

   Men should consider, that raising difficulties concerning the mysteries in religion, cannot make them more wise, learned, or virtuous. Jonathan Swift.

ChatGPTRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. difficulty

   Difficulty refers to the level of challenge, complexity, hardness, or obstacle present in a task, situation or process. It indicates the effort, skill, time, or resources required to complete a task or overcome a problem.

Webster DictionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Difficultynoun

   the state of being difficult, or hard to do; hardness; arduousness; -- opposed to easiness or facility; as, the difficulty of a task or enterprise; a work of difficulty

2. Difficultynoun

   something difficult; a thing hard to do or to understand; that which occasions labor or perplexity, and requires skill and perseverance to overcome, solve, or achieve; a hard enterprise; an obstacle; an impediment; as, the difficulties of a science; difficulties in theology

3. Difficultynoun

   a controversy; a falling out; a disagreement; an objection; a cavil

4. Difficultynoun

   embarrassment of affairs, especially financial affairs; -- usually in the plural; as, to be in difficulties

Dictionary of Nautical TermsRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. difficulty

   A word unknown to true salts.

Matched Categories

1. • Cognitive Factor
   • Condition
   • Effort
   • Quality

British National Corpus

1. Spoken Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'difficulty' in Spoken Corpus Frequency: #1652

2. Written Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'difficulty' in Written Corpus Frequency: #1772

3. Nouns Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'difficulty' in Nouns Frequency: #323

How to pronounce difficulty?

1. Alex

   US English

   David

   US English

   Mark

   US English

   Daniel

   British

   Libby

   British

   Mia

   British

   Karen

   Australian

   Hayley

   Australian

   Natasha

   Australian

   Veena

   Indian

   Priya

   Indian

   Neerja

   Indian

   Zira

   US English

   Oliver

   British

   Wendy

   British

   Fred

   US English

   Tessa

   South African

How to say difficulty in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of difficulty in Chaldean Numerology is: 3

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of difficulty in Pythagorean Numerology is: 7

Examples of difficulty in a Sentence

1. John Maynard Keynes:

   The difficulty lies, not in the new ideas, but in escaping the old ones, which ramify, for those brought up as most of us have been, into every corner of our minds.

2. Quincy Krosby:

   Most likely, there will be more volatility in the market and part of the reason is oil prices and the worry that somehow the price of oil is a reflection of inflation and deflation, the lower [oil] goes, the more it is a deflationary barometer. The lower it goes, the more difficulty the Fed has raising rates.

3. Teri Henning:

   Our members say they've never seen anything like this in terms of the number of openings and the difficulty hiring, recruiting, and retaining staff.

4. Scott County:

   While we know this will not be a popular decision, please understand the difficulty of the situation, we must base this decision on keeping our students and employees safe and keeping the schools open.

5. Ronald Mitsuyasu:

   Drugs for HIV have now been developed that have little interaction with many chemotherapy agents and The HIV-infected patients can be switched easily from one class of antiretroviral treatment to another without too much difficulty to avoid drug interactions, those of us oncologists who are knowledgeable about both HIV and cancer can easily manage most HIV cancer patients, and we recommend that HIV patients with cancer be treated as aggressively and with the same treatment as we would use in our non-HIV patients.

Popularity rank by frequency of use

References

1. ^ Princeton's WordNet
   http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=difficulty
2. ^ Wiktionary
   https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Difficulty
3. ^ Samuel Johnson's Dictionary
   https://johnsonsdictionaryonline.com/views/search.php?term=difficulty
4. ^ ChatGPT
   https://chat.openai.com
5. ^ Webster Dictionary
   https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/difficulty
6. ^ Dictionary of Nautical Terms
   https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/26000/pg26000-images.html#:~:text=difficulty