What does difficult mean?
"Difficult" is a fundamental English adjective describing anything that requires considerable effort, skill, or care — whether a demanding task, a complex problem, or a concept that resists understanding. Beyond tasks and situations, it also characterizes people who are hard to please or get along with, as when someone is called "a difficult customer." The word carries a neutral connotation: it names an obstacle without judging its value, which makes it useful in everything from technical writing to everyday conversation. It appears in fixed pairings such as "difficult decision," "difficult position," and the pattern "find it difficult to." Derived from Latin via Old French, its root elements mean roughly "not easy," making it a transparent opposite of words like "easy" and "simple." Its noun form, "difficulty," and adverb form, "difficultly," round out a word family central to discussing challenge, struggle, and complexity in daily life.
Hard to do, accomplish, deal with, or understand; requiring effort, skill, or care.
"Negotiating the treaty proved far more difficult than either side had anticipated."
(Of a person) not easy to please, satisfy, or get along with; uncooperative.
"Their two-year-old has become quite difficult at mealtimes."
Often used as a tactful understatement for someone stubborn or obstructive, especially in British English.
"Difficult" comes from Latin roots meaning literally "not easy" — it is one of the few common English words built as a direct negation of an ability.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of difficult
"Difficult" entered English in the late Middle Ages (attested from around the early 15th century), borrowed from Old French "difficulte"-related forms and ultimately from Latin "difficilis," meaning "not easy, troublesome." The Latin word combines the prefix "dis-" (expressing negation) with "facilis," meaning "easy" — the same root that gives English "facile" and "facility." Its cognates include French "difficile" and Spanish/Italian "dificil/difficile."
Related word forms
How difficult is actually used
Neutral in register and appropriate in both formal and informal contexts. In British English, describing a person as "difficult" is a common understated way of signaling they are uncooperative. When followed by an infinitive, the subject is often the thing that poses the difficulty ("the book is difficult to read"); in informal American speech, some speakers instead say "the book is difficult reading it," though this is widely considered nonstandard.
Easily confused with difficult
"Difficult" means requiring effort or being hard to deal with, while "different" means not the same as something else; they look similar but share no meaning.