Difficulty — meaning, pronunciation & more

Definition

an effort that is inconvenient

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

Pronunciation

🇺🇸American English

/daɪvˈɛstɪtʃɚ/

🇬🇧British English

/dˈɪfɪkˌʌlti/

🇮🇳Indian English

/dˈɪfɪkˌʌlti/

4 syllables Say it as /daɪvˈɛstɪtʃɚ/.

Examples

I went to a lot of trouble
he won without any trouble
had difficulty walking

Synonyms & Antonyms

Synonyms

difficultness trouble

Antonyms

ease

Parts of Speech

noun	an effort that is inconvenient “I went to a lot of trouble”
noun	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”
noun	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”
noun	the quality of being difficult “they agreed about the difficulty of the climb”

Word Forms

trouble	verb	take the trouble to do something; concern oneself
difficult	adjective	not easy; requiring great physical or mental effort to accomplish or comprehend or endure

Around the World

Europe

🇩🇪German

Schwierigkeit

ein Aufwand, der unbequem ist

🇫🇷French

difficulté

un effort qui n'est pas pratique

🇪🇸Spanish

dificultad

un esfuerzo que es inconveniente

🇮🇹Italian

difficoltà

uno sforzo scomodo

🇳🇱Dutch

moeilijkheid

een poging die ongemakkelijk is

🇵🇹Portuguese

dificuldade

um esforço que é inconveniente

🇷🇺Russian

трудность

усилие, которое неудобно

India

🇮🇳Hindi

कठिनाई

एक ऐसा प्रयास जो असुविधाजनक है

🇧🇩Bengali

অসুবিধা

একটি প্রচেষ্টা যা অসুবিধাজনক

🇮🇳Tamil

சிரமம்

சிரமமான ஒரு முயற்சி

🇮🇳Telugu

కష్టం

అసౌకర్యంగా ఉండే ప్రయత్నం

🇮🇳Marathi

अडचण

गैरसोयीचा प्रयत्न

🇮🇳Gujarati

મુશ્કેલી

એક પ્રયાસ જે અસુવિધાજનક છે

🇮🇳Kannada

ಕಷ್ಟ

ಅನನುಕೂಲಕರವಾದ ಪ್ರಯತ್ನ

🇮🇳Malayalam

ബുദ്ധിമുട്ട്

അസൗകര്യമുള്ള ഒരു ശ്രമം

🇮🇳Punjabi

ਮੁਸ਼ਕਲ

ਇੱਕ ਕੋਸ਼ਿਸ਼ ਜੋ ਅਸੁਵਿਧਾਜਨਕ ਹੈ

🇵🇰Urdu

مشکل

ایک کوشش جو تکلیف دہ ہے۔

East & Southeast Asia

🇨🇳Chinese

困难

不方便的努力

🇯🇵Japanese

困難

不便な努力

🇰🇷Korean

어려움

불편한 노력

🇻🇳Vietnamese

khó khăn

một nỗ lực bất tiện

🇹🇭Thai

ความยากลำบาก

ความพยายามที่ไม่สะดวก

🇮🇩Indonesian

kesulitan

sebuah upaya yang tidak nyaman

🇵🇭Filipino

kahirapan

isang pagsisikap na hindi maginhawa

🇲🇾Malay

kesukaran

satu usaha yang menyusahkan

Middle East

🇸🇦Arabic

صعوبة

جهد غير مريح

🇮🇷Persian

دشواری

تلاشی که ناخوشایند است

🇹🇷Turkish

zorluk

uygunsuz bir çaba

🇮🇱Hebrew

קוֹשִׁי

מאמץ שאינו נוח

Test Yourself1 / 3

What is the primary definition of the word 'difficulty'?

The primary meaning of 'difficulty' is 'an effort that is inconvenient'.

Which of the following sentences uses the word 'difficulty' in a grammatically correct way?

Using 'difficulty' in a noun/adjective form makes the first sentence correct.

In which domain is the word 'difficulty' most likely to appear as standard vocabulary?

'difficulty' is a standard word used primarily in general literature and formal communications.

Community Poll1 / 6

How often do you encounter the word 'difficulty' in your daily reading?

Very Often

Occasionally

Rarely

Never

Do you find 'difficulty' easy to spell?

Yes, very easy

Somewhat easy

A bit confusing

Extremely hard

In your opinion, does the word 'difficulty' have a positive, neutral, or gloomy tone?

Positive

Neutral

Gloomy

Vibrant

Which age group is most likely to use 'difficulty' in regular conversations?

Kids (3-12)

Teens (13-19)

Adults (20-60)

Seniors (60+)

How likely are you to use 'difficulty' in a professional email?

Very likely

Somewhat likely

Not very likely

Never

Would you classify 'difficulty' as formal, casual, or slang?

Formal

Casual

Slang

Archaic

Pick an option to see how others voted