difficult
- 01 B1 Intermediate
describing a person who is not helpful or is hard to satisfy.
characterised by a lack of cooperation or a tendency to be demanding and troublesome.
Simple“The customer was very difficult and complained about every small detail.”
In context“The director gained a reputation for being difficult to work with due to his uncompromising nature and frequent last-minute changes to the script.”
SynonymsAntonyms
Usage difficult time · difficult to find · difficult conditions
From Middle English difficult (ca. 1400), a back-formation from difficulte (whence modern difficulty), from Old French difficulté, from Latin difficultas, from difficul, older form of difficilis (“hard to do, difficult”), from dis- + facilis (“easy”); see difficile. Replaced native Middle English earveþ (“difficult, hard”), from Old English earfoþe (“difficult, laborious, full of hardship”), cognate to German Arbeit (“work”). The verb is from the adjective, partly after Middle French difficulter and its etymon Latin difficultō. Compare difficilitate, difficultate, and Italian difficoltare.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.