difficulty Hear it!

difficulty Definition

dif·fi·culty (difi kul′tē, -kəl′-)

noun pl. -·ties

  1. the condition or fact of being difficult
  2. something that is difficult, as a hard problem or an obstacle or objection
  3. trouble, distress, etc., or a cause of this
  4. a disagreement or quarrel

Etymology: ME & OFr difficulte < L difficultas < difficilis, difficult < dis-, not + facilis, easy: see facile

difficulty Idioms

in difficulties

in distress, esp. financially

difficulty Usage Examples

Preposition: of

  • puzzle: The level of difficulty of the puzzles can be selected to suit the audience.

Converse of object

  • learn: The target group is young children with learning difficulties under the age of eight years.
  • overcome: Major efforts have been made to overcome difficulties with the numerous issues of the JTMP software.
  • encounter: Now all I have to do is to convert all my webpages over to the new format - I`ve encountered two difficulties.
  • face: Anyone who is prosecuted will also face difficulty in getting a license in the future.
  • experience: There is nothing to suggest that a keen 12 year old would experience more difficulties with the theory than a keen 14 year old.
  • pose: Some Masters applicants would not know their results until September so an early start date might pose difficulties for some postgraduate degrees.

Adjective modifier

  • behavioral: The admission and retention of pupils with social and behavioral difficulties continue to test the inclusion policy.
  • financial: These might include financial difficulties or acute or prolonged parental conflict or distress.
  • mental: What do we mean by ' abnormal ' psychology, ' mental health difficulties ' or ' psychological problems ' ?
  • severe: This is mainly due to the severe difficulties in obtaining quality crystals of sufficient size to perform the experiments.
  • technical: Once a few technical difficulties were overcome, Chris Goddard's dazzling fiddle playing had the audience enthralled.
  • considerable: Some patients might be expected to benefit from this; others have reported considerable difficulties trying to come of Prozac itself.

Modifies a noun

  • breathing: Miss Y had difficulty breathing and staff from the home took her to see a GP ( who was employed by the Trust ).
  • walking: When she was used on the beaches she was forced to wear sandals and as a result she had difficulty walking.

Noun used with modifier

  • mobility: Disabled facilities: Not suitable for clients with mobility difficulties.
  • breathing: A severe cough and breathing difficulties made such preaching from his bed more and more difficult.
  • hearing: Would the advice given be any different for a young child with hearing difficulties?
  • learning: Study Points Mr and Mrs Green have called into discuss the progress and needs of their daughter who has a specific learning difficulty.
  • literacy: Writers with dyslexia or literacy difficulties can benefit from hearing their words read back to them as they type.
difficulty Quotes

Literature is the human activity that takes the fullest and most precise account of variousness, possibility, complexity, and difficulty.

—Trillin, Calvin Marshall

Trade could not be managed by those who manage it, if it had much difficulty.

—Johnson, Samuel known as Dr Johnson