dificuldade
Portuguese
Alternative forms
- difficuldade (pre-reform spelling)
Etymology
From Latin difficultātem (“difficulty”), from difficilis (“difficult, troublesome”), from dis- (“not”) + facilis (“easy”, whence Portuguese fácil), from faciō (“to do, to make”, whence Portuguese fazer), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁- (“to do, put, place, set”, root of English do).
Pronunciation
- (Brazil) IPA(key): /d͡ʒi.fi.kuwˈda.d͡ʒi/ [d͡ʒi.fi.kuʊ̯ˈda.d͡ʒi]
- (Southern Brazil) IPA(key): /d͡ʒi.fi.kuwˈda.de/ [d͡ʒi.fi.kuʊ̯ˈda.de]
- (Portugal) IPA(key): /di.fi.kulˈda.dɨ/ [di.fi.kuɫˈda.ðɨ]
- Hyphenation: di‧fi‧cul‧da‧de
Noun
dificuldade f (plural dificuldades)
- (uncountable) difficulty (state of being difficult)
- Antonym: facilidade
- a difficult situation; a hardship
- Synonyms: obstáculo, impedimento, estorvo
- 1938, Graciliano Ramos, “Fabiano”, in Vidas Seccas [Barren Lives][1], Rio de Janeiro: Livraria José Olympio Editora, page 23:
- Sim senhor, um bicho, capaz de vencer difficuldades.
- Yes sir, an animal, one able to overcome hardships.
Related terms
- desfazer
- difícil
- dificultação
- dificultado
- dificultar
- dificultoso
Further reading
- “dificuldade”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
- “dificuldade”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026