dif‧fi‧cult S1 W1 / dɪfɪk ə lt / 形容词
1 hard to do, understand, or deal with 反义词 easy :
a difficult question
an immensely difficult task
Was the exam very difficult?
It’s difficult to see how more savings can be made.
difficult (for somebody) to understand/find/obtain etc
That’s rather difficult for me to explain.
He’s finding it difficult to get a job.
2 involving a lot of problems and causing a lot of trouble or worry :
a difficult situation
Things are a bit difficult at home at the moment.
There could be difficult times ahead.
make life/things difficult for somebody (= cause problems for someone )
She’s doing everything she can to make life difficult for him.
3 someone who is difficult never seems pleased or satisfied 同义词 awkward :
Don’t be so difficult!
a difficult customer
THESAURUS
difficult not easy to do, understand, or deal with : a difficult question | The homework was really difficult. | It is difficult to see how peace can be achieved in the region.
hard difficult. Hard is less formal than difficult and is very common in spoken English : The test was really hard. | a hard decision | It was hard to forgive him.
tough very difficult, because you have to use a lot of effort, or because it affects you emotionally : a tough race | Doctors have to make tough decisions about who to treat first. | The team faces some tough competition. | Life is tough sometimes.
tricky difficult because it is complicated and full of problems : She had helped him out of a tricky situation. | Merging the two companies was bound to be tricky.
awkward rather difficult to deal with – used especially when something could be embarrassing : You’ve put me in a very awkward position. | It was getting dark and foggy, which made the rescue even more awkward.
challenging difficult in an interesting or enjoyable way : I wanted a job that was more challenging. | a challenging piece of music
demanding difficult and tiring, because it takes a lot of effort : Being a nurse in a busy hospital is a demanding job. | it can be very demanding bringing up young children.
daunting if something seems daunting, you think that it will be difficult and you do not feel confident about being able to do it : a daunting challenge | The task seemed a little daunting at first.
delicate needing to be dealt with carefully or sensitively, especially in order to avoid offending people or causing problems : This is a very delicate subject, and it can be difficult to talk about it with your parents. | He thanked me for the way in which this delicate matter had been handled.
COLLOCATIONS CHECK
difficult question/decision/situation/problem etc
hard question/decision/test
tough question/decision/job/game/race
tricky question/situation/position/moment
awkward question/situation/position/moment
challenging job
demanding work/schedule/course
daunting task/challenge/prospect
delicate subject/matter/issue