difficile

dif·fi·cile
D2I1F4F4I1C3I1L1E1
UK/ˈdɪ.fɪ.saɪl/US/ˈdɪ.fə.səl/

adjective

Hard to work with; stubborn.

OriginOld French difficile ← Latin difficilis →
UncommonScrabble 18
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Meanings

adjectivedifficile (comparative more difficile, superlative most difficile)

comparative more difficile · superlative most difficile

  1. obsoleteHard to work with; stubborn.
  2. obsoleteDifficult.

    […] forasmuch as he was to judge of an internall beauty, of a difficile knowledge, and abstruse discovery.

    , Folio Society, 2006, vol.1, p.185

Origin

  1. Latindifficilis
  2. Old Frenchdifficile
  3. Englishdifficile

From late Old French difficile, from Latin difficilis, from dis- + facilis (“easy”).

More words from Old French, Latin

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Portuguese difícil
  • difícilhard to work with, stubborn
Russian несгово́рчивый
  • несгово́рчивый (nesgovórčivyj)hard to work with, stubborn
Cite this entry
APA

difficile. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/difficile

MLA

“difficile.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/difficile. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “difficile,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/difficile.

Source: difficile on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.