difficulty

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   the quality of being difficult

   they agreed about the difficulty of the climb

2. 2
   noun

   The state of being difficult, or hard to do.

   My mom is old and has a lot of difficulty (in) remembering all her grandchildren's names.

3. 3
   noun

   An obstacle that hinders achievement of a goal.

   We faced a difficulty in trying to book a flight so late.

4. 4
   noun

   Physical danger from the environment, especially with risk of drowning

   2012 August 2, "Children rescued after getting into difficulties in Donegal" BBC Online

5. 5
   noun

   an effort that is inconvenient

6. 6
   noun

   a factor causing trouble in achieving a positive result or tending to produce a negative result

7. 7
   noun

   a condition or state of affairs almost beyond one's ability to deal with and requiring great effort to bear or overcome

8. 8
   noun

   An objection.

Etymology

From Middle English difficulte, from Middle French and Anglo-Norman difficulte and their etymon Latin difficultas, from difficul, older form of difficilis (“hard to do, difficult”), from dis- + facilis (“easy”); see difficile and difficult. Equivalent to dis- + facile + -ty. Also analysable as difficult + -y, though the adjective is historically a backformation from the noun.