Introduction
Let’s stop using difficult repetitively and expand your vocabulary with other alternative words! We need to know diverse words to use in different situations and it’s essential to have a wide range of words in storage if you plan to take some English exams or do some creative writing in the future.
‘Difficult’ is used when we face a problem to solve with skill or courage. For instance,
- I don’t like PE periods in school because I’m not fit and it is difficult to keep up with others.
- My social life is a mess because it’s difficult to find a good balance between work, private time, and relationships.
- It’s difficult to overcome acrophobia.
Let’s use the following words and expressions instead of “difficult”!
Same meaning as “difficult” and can be substituted directly with :
- Tough
Eg: Exam question 3 was tough. - Hard
Eg. My exam was hard.
Has different meanings but can still substitute in different situations:
- Challenging
Meaning: for any particular activity that tests ability and determination.
Eg. Babysitting can be challenging for young mothers.
- Tricky
Meaning: difficult to do or deal with something
Eg. It is tricky being the only bachelor when all your friends have settled down.
- Grueling
Meaning: extremely tiring, difficult, and requires great effort and determination
Eg. Running a marathon is grueling.
- Onerous
Meaning: involves mental difficulty: unpleasant, burdensome
Eg. Cleaning a coffee cup is not an onerous chore.
- Arduous
Meaning: involves physical difficulty and requires effort
Eg. The mountain climbers tackled the arduous terrain.
- Augean
Meaning: describes an extremely difficult task involving cleaning or improving something in a
very bad condition and occasionally distasteful
Eg. Jeremy was faced with the Augean task of cleaning up long-neglected dirty toilets as a punishment for messing up big in his community.
Informal expressions but not slang expressions to describe something difficult :
- Be no picnic
Meaning: describe a difficult or unpleasant activity, task, experience, or situation which needs a
lot of effort
Eg. a 2-hour bus ride to commute every day is no picnic.
- Be no walk in the park
Meaning: it is the opposite of “a walk in the park” which means something everyone can do
easily, something safe, pleasant, exciting, and interesting.
In contrast, this expression implies that something is quite difficult to accomplish and a
significant amount of effort and/ or risk might be involved.
Eg. Being a single mother is no walk in the park.
Conclusion
The above words and expressions are alternatives to “difficult”. Be cautious and aware of the situation
or circumstances to use words which has different meanings. Practice them with your sentences to
increase your vocabulary and to be comfortable using them in real-life situations.
Content Writer by Win Win Maw
