difficult

difficult 主要表示“难以完成、处理或应付的”，既可描述事情本身难，也可描述人或动物难以相处、配合。

💡 记忆钩子

把 difficult 想成面前有一扇很难推开的门：事情需要很大努力才能推开，就是“困难的”；人或动物也可能像这扇门一样不配合、难以应付，就是“难相处的”。古旧用法还可把这种“推不开”引申为不愿或难以接受某事。

📝 学习建议

先掌握“事情难做”这一核心义，再记住 difficult person 不是“困难的人”，而是“难相处的人”。
注意 difficult 不等于 different；学习时可把它和 effort、manage、deal with 等表达一起辨认，但不要把它机械地译成一个固定的中文词。

📖 中文释义

adj

core 困难的；不容易的

📖 指事情、任务或情况不容易处理，需要较多时间、能力或努力才能完成。它可以描述实际操作上的难度，也可以描述局面让人难以应付。

💡 常用“difficult to do something”“difficult for someone”“a difficult task”等搭配。否定形式“not difficult”表示“不难”，而不是“不重要”；谈论难度时，通常说明是什么事情难，而不单独把 difficult 当作“糟糕”。

It was difficult to find a quiet place to work.

找一个安静的地方工作很难。

The difficult conditions delayed the rescue team.

恶劣而困难的条件耽搁了救援队。
common 难应付的；不配合的

📖 形容人或动物不容易管理、说服或相处，常带有“故意不合作、爱找麻烦”的意味；也可形容某种局面很棘手。

💡 常见于“a difficult person”“a difficult customer”“be difficult”等结构，后者常表示某人故意不配合或无理取闹。这个义项带有明显的负面评价，不能随意用来委婉地表示对方只是害羞、内向或需要帮助。

often

Our new customer is difficult and complains about everything.

我们的新客户很难应付，什么都要抱怨。
rare 不愿的；难以接受的

📖 这是过时用法，表示某人不愿相信、接受或同意某事，可看作“心里那扇门推不开”的古旧引申义。

obsolete

more difficult comparative most difficult superlative

verb

rare 使困难；妨碍

📖 指使某事变得更难进行、理解或解决，属于过时用法；现代英语一般直接说“使某事变得困难”。

obsolete transitive

difficults present,singular,third-person difficulting participle,present difficulted participle,past difficulted past

📘 英文释义 (WordNet) 共 2 组

not easy; requiring great physical or mental effort to accomplish or comprehend or endure; ; ;

同义词集: difficult hard

a difficult task

nesting places on the cliffs are difficult of access

difficult times

why is it so hard for you to keep a secret?

反义: easy 近似: ambitious, arduous, awkward, baffling, catchy, challenging, delicate, elusive, embarrassing, hard-fought, knotty, nasty, problematic, problematical, rocky, rough, rugged, serious, sticky, thorny, ticklish, tight, touchy, tough, tricky, troublesome, trying, unenviable, vexed 参见: demanding, hard

hard to control;

同义词集: unmanageable difficult

a difficult child

an unmanageable situation

反义: manageable 近似: indocile, uncontrollable, ungovernable, unruly 参见: defiant, intractable, noncompliant

🌳 词源

源自中古英语，经过古法语和拉丁语，词根含有“并非容易”的意思；动词义由形容词义发展而来。

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.

🔄 变式

difficulted past difficulting present difficults present more difficult compar most difficult superl

🏷 单词标签 & 词根