difficulty

- definition

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noun

American English pronunciation: difficulty

/ˈdɪfɪkəlti/

singular	difficulty
plural	difficulties

Other entries for this word

Related dictionary definitions

run into trouble/difficulty/problems etc.

Metaphor

1
[uncountable] how difficult something is
The courses vary in content and difficulty.
Thesaurus entry for this meaning of difficulty
2
[uncountable] if you have difficulty with something, you are not able to do it easily
have difficulty (in) doing something:
Six months after the accident, he still has difficulty walking.
have difficulty with something:
She's having difficulty with her schoolwork this year.
do something with/without difficulty:
Grandpa was speaking with great difficulty.
great/considerable difficulty:
We had considerable difficulty finding anywhere to park.
Thesaurus entry for this meaning of difficulty
3
[countable] a problem
learning/reading/breathing difficulties
difficulty with/in:
If you experience difficulties in completing the form, ask for help.
have/experience/encounter difficulties:
students who encounter financial difficulties
cause/give rise to/lead to a difficulty:
Implementing the policy caused difficulties within the company.
the difficulty is:
The real difficulty is that no one in the group has a car.
a difficulty arises:
New difficulties arose from this arrangement.
Thesaurus entry for this meaning of difficulty
Collocations: difficulty
Collocations
difficulty3
▪ encounter, experience, face, find, have
4
[uncountable/plural] a bad situation with a lot of problems
in difficulty:
The loss puts our company in financial difficulty.
get/run into difficulty:
The climbers got into difficulties when there was a sudden storm.
Thesaurus entry for this meaning of difficulty

Metaphor: difficulty

Metaphor

A difficult idea or situation is like a knot or something that is tied up, tangled, or twisted. When you deal with it successfully, it is like untying it and getting rid of the knots and tangles.

I was tying myself in knots trying to understand how the system worked.
Our financial affairs were in a complete tangle.
I spent weeks trying to sort it out.
Sometimes it's hard to disentangle fact from fiction.
You need to tease out all the implications of the question.
It would take a genius to unravel the complexities of his business dealings.
These are difficult situations, and it takes time to straighten them out.

➡ problem, situation, understand

This is the American English definition of difficulty. View British English definition of difficulty.

Change your default dictionary and thesaurus to British English.

View the pronunciation for difficulty.

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