| / English Dictionary |
DIFFICULTY
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
An effort that is inconvenient
Example:
finished the test only with great difficulty
Synonyms:
Classified under:
Nouns denoting acts or actions
Hypernyms ("difficulty" is a kind of...):
effort; elbow grease; exertion; sweat; travail (use of physical or mental energy; hard work)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "difficulty"):
the devil (something difficult or awkward to do or deal with)
tsuris ((Yiddish) aggravating trouble)
Sense 2
Meaning:
The quality of being difficult
Example:
they agreed about the difficulty of the climb
Synonyms:
difficultness; difficulty
Classified under:
Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects
Hypernyms ("difficulty" is a kind of...):
quality (an essential and distinguishing attribute of something or someone)
Attribute:
difficult; hard (not easy; requiring great physical or mental effort to accomplish or comprehend or endure)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "difficulty"):
effortfulness (the quality of requiring deliberate effort)
asperity; grimness; hardship; rigor; rigorousness; rigour; rigourousness; severeness; severity (something hard to endure)
hardness; ruggedness (the quality of being difficult to do)
formidability; toughness (impressive difficulty)
burdensomeness; heaviness; onerousness; oppressiveness (unwelcome burdensome difficulty)
niceness; subtlety (the quality of being difficult to detect or analyze)
inconvenience; troublesomeness; worriment (a difficulty that causes anxiety)
Antonym:
ease (freedom from difficulty or hardship or effort)
Sense 3
Meaning:
A factor causing trouble in achieving a positive result or tending to produce a negative result
Example:
serious difficulties were encountered in obtaining a pure reagent
Classified under:
Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents
Hypernyms ("difficulty" is a kind of...):
cognitive factor (something immaterial (as a circumstance or influence) that contributes to producing a result)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "difficulty"):
wrinkle (a minor difficulty)
balk; baulk; check; deterrent; handicap; hinderance; hindrance; impediment (something immaterial that interferes with or delays action or progress)
snorter (something outstandingly difficult)
booby trap; pitfall (an unforeseen or unexpected or surprising difficulty)
pisser (a very disagreeable difficulty)
kink (a difficulty or flaw in a plan or operation)
killer (a difficulty that is hard to deal with)
facer ((a dated Briticism) a serious difficulty with which one is suddenly faced)
problem; trouble (a source of difficulty)
Sense 4
Meaning:
A condition or state of affairs almost beyond one's ability to deal with and requiring great effort to bear or overcome
Example:
grappling with financial difficulties
Classified under:
Nouns denoting stable states of affairs
Hypernyms ("difficulty" is a kind of...):
condition; status (a state at a particular time)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "difficulty"):
wall (a difficult or awkward situation)
urinary hesitancy (difficulty in beginning the flow of urine; associated with prostate enlargement in men and with narrowing of the urethral opening in women; may be caused by emotional stress in either men or women)
situation (a complex or critical or unusual difficulty)
job; problem (a state of difficulty that needs to be resolved)
mire (a difficulty or embarrassment that is hard to extricate yourself from)
strain; stress (difficulty that causes worry or emotional tension)
hard time; rough sledding (a difficulty that can be overcome with effort)
fix; hole; jam; kettle of fish; mess; muddle; pickle (informal terms for a difficult situation)
pinch (a painful or straitened circumstance)
rattrap (a difficult entangling situation)
plight; predicament; quandary (a situation from which extrication is difficult especially an unpleasant or trying one)
bitch (an unpleasant difficulty)
Context examples:
At least we shall have no difficulty now in carrying our packages, when to-morrow we begin to make our way back to the Amazon.
(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
We stayed several hours with Justine, and it was with great difficulty that Elizabeth could tear herself away.
(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)
The prognosis is extremely poor due to its late presentation and difficulty obtaining complete surgical excision.
(Pericardial Malignant Mesothelioma, NCI Thesaurus)
Parkinson's Disease Quality of Life Scale (PDQUALIF) When eating or drinking fluids, I have difficulty swallowing.
(PDQUALIF - Swallowing Difficulty, NCI Thesaurus)
Parkinson's Disease Quality of Life Scale (PDQUALIF) I have difficulty with bladder control (frequency, urgency, inability).
(PDQUALIF - Bladder Control Difficulty, NCI Thesaurus)
Acute inhalation exposure to 1,4-dichlorobenzene can result in coughing and breathing difficulties.
(Paradichlorobenzene, NCI Thesaurus)
Difficulty in recollection, or interruption of a train of thought or speech, due to emotional factors.
(Mental Blocking, NCI Thesaurus)
Psychological symptoms may include: decrease in libido, emotional lability, difficulty concentrating and insomnia.
(Menopausal Syndrome, NCI Thesaurus)
This species is nonsporulating, urease, catalase and indole negative, ferments mannose but not raffinose, does not reduce nitrate, is pyrrolidonyl positive and may appear gram variable due to staining difficulty.
(Clostridium innocuum, NCI Thesaurus)
They include feeding difficulties, lethargy, hypoglycemia, hypotonia, liver abnormalities, heart abnormalities, peripheral neuropathy, coma, and sudden death.
(Mitochondrial Trifunctional Protein Deficiency, NCI Thesaurus)
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