rocky
adj.adj. full of rocks or stones, or a situation that is difficult and full of problems. You use it to describe a relationship or a plan that is not going smoothly.
adj. consisting of or covered with rocks; figuratively, unstable or full of difficulties. Often used to describe interpersonal relationships or economic periods marked by instability.
The path to the beach is very rocky.
After a rocky start to their marriage, the couple decided to see a counselor to improve their communication.
The startup faced a rocky first year as fluctuating market conditions and internal disagreements threatened to derail their initial product launch.
Diminutives with -y.
When used figuratively to mean 'difficult', it is a gradable adjective and can be used with intensifiers like 'very' or 'extremely'.