Synonyms for difficulty
ˈdɪf ɪˌkʌl ti, -kəl tidif·fi·cul·ty

English Synonyms and AntonymsRate these synonyms:2.0 / 1 vote

1. difficulty

   Difficulty makes an undertaking otherwise than easy. That which rests upon one as a burden is an encumbrance. An impediment is primarily something that checks the foot or in any way makes advance slow or difficult; an obstacle is something that stands across the way, an obstruction something that is built or placed across the way. An obstruction is always an obstacle, but an obstacle may not always be properly termed an obstruction; boxes and bales placed on the sidewalk are obstructions to travel; an ice-floe is an obstacle to navigation, and may become an obstruction if it closes an inlet or channel. A hindrance (kindred with hind, behind) is anything that makes one come behind or short of his purpose. An impediment may be either what one finds in his way or what he carries with him; impedimenta was the Latin name for the baggage of a soldier or of an army. The tendency is to view an impediment as something constant or, at least for a time, continuous; as, an impediment in one's speech. A difficulty or a hindrance may be either within one or without; a speaker may find difficulty in expressing himself, or difficulty in holding the attention of restless children. An encumbrance is always what one carries with him; an obstacle or an obstruction is always without. To a marching soldier the steepness of a mountain path is a difficulty, loose stones are impediments, a fence is an obstruction, a cliff or a boulder across the way is an obstacle; a knapsack is an encumbrance.

   Synonyms:
   bar, barrier, clog, encumbrance, hindrance, impediment, obstacle, obstruction

   Antonyms:
   advantage, aid, assistance, benefit, help, relief, succor

Princeton's WordNetRate these synonyms:0.0 / 0 votes

1. trouble, difficultynoun

   an effort that is inconvenient

   "I went to a lot of trouble"; "he won without any trouble"; "had difficulty walking"; "finished the test only with great difficulty"

   Synonyms:
   fuss, trouble, worry, hassle, difficultness, problem, bother

   Antonyms:
   ease, simpleness, simplicity, easiness

2. difficultynoun

   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"

   Synonyms:
   trouble, difficultness

   Antonyms:
   simpleness, easiness, ease, simplicity

3. difficultynoun

   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"

   Synonyms:
   trouble, difficultness

   Antonyms:
   simpleness, ease, simplicity, easiness

4. difficulty, difficultnessnoun

   the quality of being difficult

   "they agreed about the difficulty of the climb"

   Synonyms:
   trouble, difficultness

   Antonyms:
   simpleness, easiness, ease, simplicity

Matched Categories

1. • Cognitive Factor
   • Condition
   • Effort
   • Quality

Editors ContributionRate these synonyms:0.0 / 0 votes

1. stress

   a state of mental or emotional strain or tension resulting from adverse or very demanding circumstances.

   "he's obviously under a lot of stress"

   Submitted by rinat on August 15, 2019  

Dictionary of English SynonymesRate these synonyms:0.0 / 0 votes

1. difficultynoun

   Synonyms:
   arduousness

2. difficultynoun

   Synonyms:
   obstacle, impediment, bar, obstruction, barrier, hinderance, trouble, perplexity, exigency, trial, dilemma, embarrassment, emergency, pinch, pickle, stand, dead-set, set fast, dead-lock, dead-stand, stand-still, horns of a dilemma, up-hill work, sea of troubles, peck of troubles, hard row to hoe, hard nut to crack

Synonyms, Antonyms & Associated WordsRate these synonyms:0.0 / 0 votes

1. difficultynoun

   Synonyms:
   obstacle, impediment, obstruction, arduousness, hardness, controversy, disagreement, objection, cavil, predicament, quandary, dilemma

   Antonyms:
   ease, facility, extrication, release

PPDB, the paraphrase databaseRate these paraphrases:0.0 / 0 votes

1. List of paraphrases for "difficulty":

   difficulties, difficult, trouble, challenge, hardship, problem, challenges, distress, hard

How to pronounce difficulty?

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How to use difficulty in a sentence?

1. Gene Seroka:

   It's like taking 10 lanes of freeway traffic and moving them into five when the cargo gets here, we're having difficulty absorbing all of that cargo into the American supply chain.

2. Chinese Premier Li Keqiang:

   It is true that the current China-Japan relationship is in difficulty, the crux of the issue is how the war and that part of history are viewed.

3. Lionel Trilling:

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

4. Steny Hoyer:

   It can result in difficulty finding employment, difficulty finding housing, denial of access of federal benefits, denial of financial aid at colleges and universities, and denial of the right to vote, that's why Brian Mast and Matt Gaetz're dealing with this.

5. William Schaffner:

   Just for scientific reasons, we had difficulty making an effective vaccine. But that's been successful now, the FDA has approved two different types of meningococcal group B vaccines that have been recently licensed.