difficultness

difficultness — noun

1. how hard something is to do, understand, or get through — a word that points to

1.nounB2
Definition

how hard something is to do, understand, or get through — a word that points to the amount of effort or skill a task needs, rather than listing the exact problems it involves.

Example

Rin was surprised by the difficultness of the math competition after months of preparation.

difficultness of [activity] for describing challenge level

The difficultness of the mountain trail became clear when Ziad had to stop often to rest.

Common collocations
  • difficultness of [task / problem / exam / situation]
  • degree of difficultness
  • level of difficultness
Synonyms
  • difficulty

    the standard, far more common word for the same concept; use in all registers

  • arduousness

    emphasises great physical or mental effort over a long period; more formal

  • hardship

    focuses on suffering or deprivation rather than challenge level; not interchangeable

Antonyms
  • ease

    the quality of being easy or simple

  • simplicity

    the quality of being uncomplicated

Grammar Patterns

difficultness of [noun phrase]

Usage Note

Difficultness is far less common than difficulty in everyday English. For most contexts — especially spoken language — use difficulty instead (e.g. 'the difficulty of the exam' not 'the difficultness of the exam'). Difficultness appears mainly in technical writing or when the speaker wants to emphasise the abstract quality rather than a specific problem.

Common Mistakes

The difficultness of the problem is high.
The problem is very difficult.
Avoid pairing difficultness with degree adjectives (high, low); use a simpler sentence structure instead.
I am facing many difficultnesses.
I am facing many difficulties.
Difficultness is uncountable; use difficulty for countable obstacles.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

Difficulty is the standard word for the quality of being hard to do or understand, used comfortably in both formal and informal contexts. Difficultness is a very rare synonym that appears mainly in technical or analytical writing when the speaker wants to treat 'difficultness' as an abstract measurable property. Arduousness emphasises great physical or mental effort sustained over time — you would describe the arduousness of a long trek but not the arduousness of a short puzzle. Hardship shifts the focus to suffering and deprivation rather than challenge level; losing a job causes hardship, not difficultness. For everyday use, choose difficulty: 'the difficulty of the exam' sounds natural, while 'the difficultness of the exam' strikes most readers as overly formal or awkward.

difficulty ↗arduousnesshardship ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

Phrases

  • degree of difficultness
  • level of difficultness

Prepositions

Etymology

LatinFrenchEnglish

Difficultness is formed by adding the suffix -ness to the adjective difficult. Difficult entered English through French from Latin difficilis, which combines dis- (meaning 'not') with facilis (meaning 'easy') — so literally 'not easy'. The -ness suffix comes from Old English -nes and is used to turn adjectives into nouns that describe a state or quality. The word has been in use since the late 15th century but has always been much less common than difficulty.