Synonyms for Difficult

Synonyms for "difficult" (245 found)

Ranked by relevance and common usage.

Closest matches (49)

Adjective(15 words)

hardadvanced multiplication drillsagonizing arduous awkward balkiest briary challengingchallenging behaviorschewiestcomplex designcomplex instructionscomplex social systemcomputational complexityconfusing

abstruse adverse antagonistic arduous awkward bafflingbeyond onebloody-minded brutal burdensome cantankerous choosy complex complicated conflicting contrary counter counteractive crabbed cramp

Show 8 more words

cranky criticalcross grainedcross-grained dark deep delicate demanding

Adjective(4 words)

arduous burdensome challenging cumbersome

Verb(1 words)

challenged

Noun(1 words)

challenging behavior

Strong matches (74)

Adjective(12 words)

dense massdysfunctional communityfiendish frustrating gnarliest gnarly hardesthigh gradeinconvenientintense energyknottiestlow usability

deplorable detrimental dicey difficile effortful enigmatical evil exacting exhausting fastidious finical finicking finicky finikin formidable froward fuss-budgety fussy garbled grim

Show 29 more words

hairy hardhard earnedhard foughthard to pleasehard to understandhard-earned hard-fought harmful heavy herculean hostile ill-behavedin oppositioninimical intractable intricate irascible jawbreaking jumbled killing knotted knotty labored laborious lean mean miserable murderous

Noun(10 words)

educational difficultyeluding flummoxfrictional coefficienthard to dolearning difficultymath challengemath challengingmath geniusmore challenging tasks

Adjective(2 words)

effortful hard

Verb(1 words)

hinder

Related words (122)

Adjective(7 words)

nasty rocky thistly tough uneath unsimple wanton

naughty nervous nit-pickingno picnicnot easyobfuscated obscure obscured obstinate obstructive onerous operose opposed opposing opposite ornery overcritical overtechnical parlous particular

Show 70 more words

Noun(5 words)

not cooperativeproblematic patternreading skilltrablous wrestling

Adjective(19 words)

peludo perplexing plaguy prickly slow stiffest taxing thorny tough trickier trickiest tricky unclearuncooperative groupunfavorable conditionunhanded unmanageable vexedwild ride

Verb(1 words)

struggling

How these synonyms differ

arduous - 'Arduous' emphasizes exhausting effort over a long haul. It's not just hard, it's draining.
challenging - 'Challenging' puts a positive spin on difficulty, it implies growth and reward, not just struggle.
complex - 'Complex' shifts from difficulty to intricacy, something can be complex without being hard if you understand all its parts.
tough - 'Tough' is colloquial and resilient, a tough problem demands grit, and calling something tough acknowledges real resistance.

Related word relations

OpenGloss and ConceptNet supply richer edges like generalizations, collocations, and derivations.

7 relation types

More general

3 entries

challenge comprehensibility difficulty

More specific

8 entries

complicated calculationdifficult conversationdifficult decisiondifficult jargondifficult projectdifficult vocabularyhard problemtough assignment

Collocations

6 entries

difficult assignmentdifficult conceptdifficult problemdifficult readingdifficult science experimentdifficult task

Inflections

4 entries

least difficultless difficultmore difficultmost difficult

Derivations

1 entries

difficulty

Antonyms

1 entries

easy

similar

46 entries

ambitious arduous awkward baffling catchy challenging complex defiant delicate demanding disobedient effortful elusive embarrassing fractious hard

Showing 16 of 46 words.

Sample sentences

18 total sentences available.

Tatoeba + Wiktionary

It is difficult to keep up a conversation with someone who only says "yes" and "no".

Source: tatoeba (1589)

It's quite difficult to master French in 2 or 3 years.

Source: tatoeba (1596)

It's difficult to have great ideas.

Source: tatoeba (2080)

It's more difficult than you think.

Source: tatoeba (2449)

Showing 4 of 18 available sentences.

Difficult