Basic Details
Word: Difficult
Part of Speech: Adjective
Meaning: Not easy; needing a lot of effort, skill or thinking to do or understand.
Synonyms: hard, tough, tricky
Antonyms: easy, simple
How to Spell Difficult
Syllables: dif - fi - cult
Tricky part: Two f's sit in the middle, and the ending is -cult, not -calt or -kult. Children often drop one f.
Watch out for: dificult, difficalt, diffecult
Memory tip: Think of two fences, f and f, standing in your way. Jumping two fences is difficult, so the word needs both of them.
Usage Examples
Example 1: The last sum in the test was the most difficult one.
Example 2: It is difficult to ride a cycle with a flat tyre.
Example 3: Learning the tabla was difficult at first, but Kabir kept practising.
Fun Fact
The longer word difficulty is older. People later made difficult by taking the y off the end. Its Latin root means not easy.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Connection
Choose the antonym of the word:
difficult
a) serious
b) easy
c) tough
d) hard
Show answer
b) easy. Hard and tough mean the same as difficult; easy is its opposite.
Word Cookie
Find the extra letter in the word:
difficcult
a) f
b) c
c) i
d) u
Show answer
b) c. Difficult has two f's but only one c, so one c must go.
Spell-o-Spell
Choose the incorrectly spelt word:
a) difficalt
b) mountain
c) careful
d) holiday
Show answer
a) difficalt. The word ends in -cult, with a u, not an a.
Mingle-Mangle
Form a meaningful word from the jumbled letters:
fdicftiul
a) difficult
b) difficlut
c) dificult
d) diffiuclt
Show answer
a) difficult. Two f's in the middle and cult at the end give difficult.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Which job would be the most difficult for a five-year-old?
a) drawing a circle
b) clapping hands
c) driving a bus
d) eating a banana
Show answer
c) driving a bus
2. Choose the sentence that uses difficult correctly.
a) The puzzle was too difficult to finish in five minutes.
b) We ate difficult for lunch.
c) The difficult ran across the road.
d) She wore a difficult dress.
Show answer
a) The puzzle was too difficult to finish in five minutes.
