Synonyms difficult
difficult
hard ▪ challenging ▪ demanding ▪ taxing
These words all describe something that is not easy and requires a lot of effort or skill to do.
difficult not easy; needing effort or skill to do or to understand:
The exam questions were quite difficult.
It is difficult for young people to find jobs around here.
hard not easy; needing effort or skill to do or understand:
I always found languages quite hard at school.
It was one of the hardest things I ever did.
difficult or hard?
Hard is slightly less formal than difficult. It is used particularly in the structure hard to believe/say/find/take, etc., although difficult can also be used in any of these examples.
challenging (approving) difficult in an interesting way that tests your ability.demanding difficult to do or deal with and needing a lot of effort, skill, etc.:
It is a technically demanding piece of music to play.
taxing (often used in negative statements) difficult to do and needing a lot of mental or physical effort:
This shouldn’t be too taxing for you.
Patterns
difficult/hard/challenging/demanding/taxing for somebody
difficult/hard to do something
physically difficult/hard/challenging/demanding/taxing
technically difficult/challenging/demanding
mentally/intellectually challenging/demanding/taxing