What does trickiness mean?
Trickiness is an abstract noun meaning the quality of being difficult to understand, manage, or solve. It is often used for problems, procedures, and situations whose complexity can cause confusion or error: a piece of software may contain trickiness, while a negotiation may involve considerable political trickiness. The word can also describe a person's craftiness or the presence of deception. This second sense generally carries a more critical or suspicious connotation than the first, which simply identifies difficulty or subtlety. In technical, educational, and professional writing, trickiness often emphasizes that a solution cannot be reached through a simple or obvious approach. Although the word appears in both British and American English, it is somewhat less formal than terms such as complexity or intricacy. Overall, it is useful when the central point is not merely that something is difficult, but that its difficulty is potentially confusing, misleading, or unusually demanding.
nounThe quality of being difficult to understand, handle, or deal with. It can also refer to the subtle or deceptive character of a situation or person's behaviour.
- The quality of being difficult to understand, handle, or solve.
- The quality of being subtle, deceptive, or crafty.
"The apparent trickiness of the task became clear once the team began working through it step by step."
"A good guide can make light of the trickiness of the subject."
"The negotiations were marked by a degree of political trickiness that left both sides uncertain."
Rare and normally unnecessary because trickiness is an abstract noun, but the plural is used when referring to several distinct instances of difficulty or deception.
"The negotiators were alert to the different trickinesses of each political agreement."
Trickiness has a double edge: it can describe a knotty problem or the slippery deceit of a person.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does trickiness come from?
Trickiness is an English abstract noun formed from the noun trick and the suffix -ness, meaning the quality or condition of being tricky. The base noun trick is recorded from Middle English and is generally traced to Old French trique, although the ultimate origin of that word is uncertain. Related English forms include tricky, trickery, and trickster.
How trickiness is actually used
The word is neutral in register and common in both everyday and professional contexts. It is often somewhat informal, although it is also used in technical discussion to describe a problem's inherent complexity. When it describes a person, it implies cunning or deception rather than merely cleverness.
Easily confused with trickiness
Trickiness is the quality of being difficult or deceptive, whereas trickery refers more specifically to acts of deception or deceptive behaviour.