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Problematic

//ˌpɹɒbləˈmætɪk// adj, noun

Definitions

Adjective
  1. 1
    Posing a problem; having or suffering from problem(s):; Difficult to overcome, solve, or decide.

    "And the most problematic thing of all is that it is impossible for me even to know and tell you their names, unless one of them happens to be a playwright."

  2. 2
    Posing a problem; having or suffering from problem(s):; Not settled, uncertain, of uncertain outcome; debatable, questionable, open to doubt.

    "The strangeness of hiring undocumented Mexican women as domestics, many of whom were no older than fifteen, seemed strange to me. It was this strangeness that raised the topic of domestic service as a question and made problematic what had previously been taken for granted."

  3. 3
    Posing a problem; having or suffering from problem(s):; Contributing (especially if subtly) to discrimination (such as racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, or ageism).
  4. 4
    Only affirming the possibility that a predicate be actualised. dated
Adjective
  1. 1
    making great mental demands; hard to comprehend or solve or believe wordnet
  2. 2
    open to doubt or debate wordnet
Noun
  1. 1
    A problem or difficulty in a particular field of study.

    "The seemingly intractable problematic of essentialism versus antiessentialism and primordialism versus circumstantialism endemic to identity analysis today."

Etymology

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Middle French problématique, from Late Latin problematicus, from Ancient Greek προβληματικός (problēmatikós), from πρόβλημα (próblēma, “outjutting, barrier, problem”), from προβάλλω (probállō, “I throw, place before”), from πρό (pró, “before”) + βάλλω (bállō, “I throw, place”). By surface analysis, problem + -atic.

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Middle French problématique, from Late Latin problematicus, from Ancient Greek προβληματικός (problēmatikós), from πρόβλημα (próblēma, “outjutting, barrier, problem”), from προβάλλω (probállō, “I throw, place before”), from πρό (pró, “before”) + βάλλω (bállō, “I throw, place”). By surface analysis, problem + -atic.

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