. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
you have here. The definition of the word
will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition of
, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
English
Etymology
From Middle English probleme , from Middle French probleme , from Latin problema , from Ancient Greek πρόβλημα ( próblēma , “ anything thrown forward, hindrance, obstacle, anything projecting, a headland, promontory ” ) , from προβάλλω ( probállō , “ to throw or lay something in front of someone, to put forward ” ) , from προ- ( pro- , “ in front of ” ) + βάλλω ( bállō , “ to throw, to cast, to hurl ” ) .
Pronunciation
Noun
problem (plural problems )
A difficulty that has to be resolved or dealt with.
Hypernyms: challenge , issue , obstacle
She's leaving because she faced numerous problems to do with racism.
1910 , Emerson Hough , chapter I, in The Purchase Price: Or The Cause of Compromise , Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company , →OCLC :“ [ …] it is not fair of you to bring against mankind double weapons ! Dangerous enough you are as woman alone, without bringing to your aid those gifts of mind suited to problems which men have been accustomed to arrogate to themselves.”
An addiction , other substance use disorder, or comparable psychological challenge.
Hyponyms: drinking problem , drug problem
I think he has a gambling problem . Lending him money will probably only make it worse.
I think he has a nose candy problem . Lending him money will probably only make it worse.
A question to be answered, schoolwork exercise .
Study hard, but don't overdo it. The problems in the exam won't be difficult to solve.
A puzzling circumstance .
Objection.
You got a problem with that?
Difficulty in accepting or understanding or refusal to accept or understand.
You made your best honest effort; if they judge you harshly, that’s their problem , not yours.
( climbing ) A set of moves required to complete a climb .
Usage notes
Colloquially, "problem" in sense 1 can be put after an objective personal pronoun to create a noun phrase meaning "that person's/those people's problem."
1994 , Joel S. Weissman, Arnold M. Epstein, Falling Through the Safety Net: Insurance Status and Access to Health Care , page 30 :Until Middle America understands lack of insurance and underinsurance as an "us" problem rather than a "them" problem , the motivation for change will be diminished.
Antonyms
Hyponyms
Derived terms
Descendants
Translations
difficulty
Afrikaans: probleem (af)
Albanian: çështje (sq) f , zavall (sq) m , problem (sq) m
Amharic: ችግር ( čəggər )
Arabic: مُشْكِلَة f ( muškila )
Moroccan Arabic: مشكلة ( muškila ) , مصيبة ( muṣība ) , مشكل ( muškil, muškul )
Tunisian Arabic: مشكل ( muškul )
Aragonese: problema m
Armenian: խնդիր (hy) ( xndir )
Assyrian Neo-Aramaic: ܡܘܼܫܟܸܠܵܐ ( muškila )
Asturian: problema m
Azerbaijani: problem (az) , məsələ (az)
Bashkir: проблема ( problema ) , мәсьәлә ( məsʹələ )
Basque: arazo
Belarusian: прабле́ма (be) f ( prabljéma )
Bengali: সমস্যা (bn) ( śomosśa ) , ঝামেলা (bn) ( jhamela ) , মুশকিল (bn) ( muśokil ) , অসুবিধা (bn) ( ośubidha ) , ভেজাল (bn) ( bhejal ) , প্রব্লাম্ ( problam )
Breton: kudenn (br) f
Bulgarian: пробле́м (bg) m ( problém )
Burmese: ပြဿနာ (my) ( pra.ssa.na )
Catalan: problema (ca) m
Cebuano: kalisud
Chinese:
Cantonese: 問題 / 问题 ( man6 tai4 ) , 困難 / 困难 ( kwan3 naan4 ) , 難題 / 难题 ( naan4 tai4 ) , 麻煩 / 麻烦 ( maa4 faan4 )
Mandarin: 問題 / 问题 (zh) ( wèntí ) , 困難 / 困难 (zh) ( kùnnán ) , 難題 / 难题 (zh) ( nántí ) , 麻煩 / 麻烦 (zh) ( máfán )
Czech: problém (cs) m
Danish: problem (da) n
Dutch: probleem (nl) n
Esperanto: problemo
Estonian: küsimus (et) , takistus (et) , kitsikus , mure , probleem
Finnish: ongelma (fi) , ( old slang ) probleemi (fi) , vaikeus (fi)
French: problème (fr) m
Galician: problema (gl) m
Georgian: პრობლემა ( ṗroblema ) , სირთულე ( sirtule )
German: Problem (de) n
Greek: πρόβλημα (el) n ( próvlima )
Ancient: ἀπορία f ( aporía )
Hebrew: בְּעָיָה (he) f ( be'aya )
Hiligaynon: palaligban , problema
Hindi: समस्या (hi) f ( samasyā ) , मसला (hi) m ( maslā ) , प्रश्न (hi) m ( praśna ) , दिक़्क़त f ( diqqat ) , दिक्कत (hi) f ( dikkat ) , मुश्किल (hi) f ( muśkil )
Hungarian: probléma (hu) , baj (hu) , gond (hu) , nehézség (hu)
Icelandic: vandamál (is) n
Indonesian: masalah (id)
Irish: fadhb (ga) f , deacracht f
Italian: problema (it) m
Japanese: 問題 (ja) ( もんだい, mondai )
Kazakh: мәселе ( mäsele ) , проблема ( problema )
Khmer: ចំណោទ (km) ( cɑmnaot )
Korean: 문제(問題) (ko) ( munje )
Kurdish:
Northern Kurdish: problem (ku) , mesele (ku)
Kyrgyz: проблема (ky) ( problema ) , көйгөй (ky) ( köygöy ) , маселе (ky) ( masele )
Lao: ບັນຫາ ( ban hā )
Latvian: problēma (lv) f
Lithuanian: problema f
Macedonian: про́блем m ( próblem ) , тешко́тија ( teškótija )
Malay: masalah (ms) , kesulitan (ms) , kemusykilan
Malayalam: പ്രശ്നം (ml) ( praśnaṁ )
Maltese: problema f
Maore Comorian: taãɓu class 9 /10
Maori: rarunga
Mirandese: porblema m
Mongolian:
Cyrillic: хүндрэл (mn) ( xündrel )
Mongolian: ᠬᠦᠨᠳᠦᠷᠡᠯ ( kündürel )
Neapolitan: prubblema
Ngazidja Comorian: shaka class 5 /6
Norman: problième m ( Jersey )
Norwegian:
Bokmål: problem (no) n , aber (no) n
Nynorsk: problem n
Occitan: problèma (oc) m
Old English: wiern f , hremming f
Oromo: rakkina
Pashto: مسئله f ( mas'ala ) , کشاله f ( kašāla )
Persian:
Dari: مُشْکِل ( muškil ) , مَسْئَلَه ( mas'ala )
Iranian Persian: مُشْکِل ( moškel ) , مَسْئَلِه ( mas'ale )
Polish: problem (pl) m , kłopot (pl) m
Portuguese: problema (pt) m
Romanian: problemă (ro) f
Russian: пробле́ма (ru) f ( probléma )
Sanskrit: समस्या (sa) f ( samasyā )
Scottish Gaelic: duilgheadas m , staing f
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: про̀бле̄м m
Roman: pròblēm (sh) m
Slovak: problém (sk) m
Slovene: problem m
Spanish: problema (es) m , dificultad (es) f , lío (es) m
Swahili: tatizo (sw) class 5 /6 , masaibu (sw)
Swedish: problem (sv) n
Tagalog: problema (tl)
Tajik: мушкил (tg) ( muškil ) , масъала ( masʾala ) , проблема ( problema )
Tatar: мәсьәлә ( mäs’älä )
Thai: ปัญหา (th) ( bpan-hǎa )
Tibetan: རྙོག་དྲ ( rnyog dra )
Turkish: sorun (tr) , problem (tr)
Turkmen: problem , problema , mesele
Tuvaluan: fakalavelave
Ukrainian: пробле́ма f ( probléma )
Urdu: مَسْئَلَہ m ( masala ) , مُصِیبَت (ur) f ( musībat ) , دِقَّت f ( diqqat ) , مُشْکِل f ( muśkil )
Uyghur: مەسىلە ( mesile )
Uzbek: masala (uz) , muammo (uz) , problema (uz)
Vietnamese: vấn đề (vi) (問題 )
Walloon: rujhe (wa) f , aroke (wa) f , arnåjhe (wa) f , rascråwe (wa) f , asticote (wa) f
Welsh: problem (cy) f
Yiddish: פּראָבלעם m ( problem )
Yucatec Maya: toop
schoolwork exercise
Afrikaans: probleem (af)
Arabic: تَمْرِين m ( tamrīn )
Armenian: խնդիր (hy) ( xndir ) , հարց (hy) ( harcʻ )
Asturian: problema m
Bashkir: мәсьәлә ( məsʹələ )
Basque: buruketa (eu)
Belarusian: зада́ча (be) f ( zadáča ) , зада́нне n ( zadánnje )
Bengali: প্রশ্ন (bn) ( prôśnô )
Breton: poelladenn f
Bulgarian: зада́ча (bg) f ( zadáča )
Catalan: problema (ca) m
Chinese:
Cantonese: 題目 / 题目 ( tai4 muk6 ) , 習題 / 习题 ( zaap6 tai4 ) , 課題 / 课题 ( fo3 tai4 )
Mandarin: 題目 / 题目 (zh) ( tímù ) , 習題 / 习题 (zh) ( xítí ) , 課題 / 课题 (zh) ( kètí )
Dutch: oefening (nl) f , probleem (nl) n
Estonian: harjutus
Finnish: harjoitus (fi) , harjoitustehtävä (fi)
French: problème (fr) m
Galician: problema (gl) m
Georgian: ამოცანა ( amocana )
German: Übung (de) f
Greek: πρόβλημα (el) n ( próvlima )
Ancient: πρόβλημα n ( próblēma )
Hungarian: feladat (hu) , példa (hu)
Ingrian: zadaci , reknatus , primera
Interlingua: problema
Irish: fadhb (ga) f
Japanese: 問題 (ja) ( もんだい, mondai ) , 課題 (ja) ( かだい, kadai )
Korean: 문제(問題) (ko) ( munje ) , 과제(課題) (ko) ( gwaje )
Latvian: uzdevums m
Macedonian: за́дача f ( zádača ) , про́блем m ( próblem )
Maori: rapanga
Middle English: probleme
Norman: problième m ( Jersey )
Norwegian:
Bokmål: oppgave (no) m or f
Occitan: problèma (oc) m
Persian:
Dari: مَسْئَلَه ( mas'ala )
Iranian Persian: مَسْئَلِه ( mas'ale )
Polish: zadanie (pl) n
Portuguese: problema (pt) m , exercício (pt) m
Romanian: problemă (ro) f , exercițiu (ro) n
Russian: зада́ча (ru) f ( zadáča ) , зада́ние (ru) n ( zadánije )
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: про̀бле̄м m , зада́так m , једна̀џба f
Roman: pròblēm (sh) m , zadátak (sh) m , jednàdžba (sh) f
Spanish: problema (es) m , ejercicio (es) m
Swahili: masaibu (sw)
Swedish: uppgift (sv) c , övning (sv) c , problem (sv) n
Thai: โจทย์ (th) ( jòot )
Turkish: soru (tr)
Ukrainian: зада́ча f ( zadáča ) , завда́ння (uk) n ( zavdánnja )
Walloon: problinme (wa) m
Adjective
problem (comparative more problem , superlative most problem )
( of a person or an animal ) Difficult to train or guide ; unruly .
Causing a problem; problematic ; troublesome .
2010 , A. M. Aleksander, The Pride of the King :It is more problem to my family than to me.
See also
Further reading
“problem ”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary , Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam , 1913 , →OCLC .
“problem ”, in The Century Dictionary , New York, N.Y.: The Century Co. , 1911 , →OCLC .
“problem ”, in OneLook Dictionary Search .
Azerbaijani
Etymology
Internationalism ; ultimately from Ancient Greek πρόβλημα ( próblēma ) .
Pronunciation
Noun
problem (definite accusative problemi , plural problemlər )
problem
Declension
Crimean Tatar
Etymology
French problème .
Pronunciation
Noun
problem
problem
Synonym: problema
Declension
References
Danish
Noun
problem n (singular definite problemet , plural indefinite problemer )
problem
Declension
Derived terms
References
Indonesian
Etymology
From Dutch probleem , from Latin problēma , from Ancient Greek πρόβλημα ( próblēma ) .
Pronunciation
IPA (key ) :
Hyphenation: pro‧blém
Noun
problem
problem .
Synonyms: masalah , perkara , persoalan
Further reading
Kashubian
Etymology
Borrowed from Polish problem .
Pronunciation
IPA (key ) : /ˈprɔ.blɛm/
Rhymes: -ɔblɛm
Syllabification: pro‧blem
Noun
problem m inan
problem
Derived terms
Further reading
Jan Trepczyk (1994 ) “problem”, in Słownik polsko-kaszubski (in Kashubian), volumes 1–2
Eùgeniusz Gòłąbk (2011 ) “problem”, in Słownik Polsko-Kaszubski / Słowôrz Pòlskò-Kaszëbsczi
“problem ”, in Internetowi Słowôrz Kaszëbsczégò Jãzëka [Internet Dictionary of the Kashubian Language ], Fundacja Kaszuby, 2022
Middle English
Noun
problem
Alternative form of probleme
Norwegian Bokmål
Noun
problem n (definite singular problemet , indefinite plural problem or problemer , definite plural problema or problemene )
problem
Derived terms
References
Norwegian Nynorsk
Pronunciation
Noun
problem n (definite singular problemet , indefinite plural problem , definite plural problema )
problem
Derived terms
References
Polish
Etymology
Borrowed from French problème .[ 1] [ 2] Displaced and doublet of problema , a borrowing directly from Latin. First attested in 1900.[ 3]
Pronunciation
IPA (key ) : /ˈprɔ.blɛm/
Rhymes: -ɔblɛm
Syllabification: pro‧blem
Noun
problem m inan (diminutive problemik )
problem ( a difficulty that has to be resolved or dealt with )
Synonyms: bajer , ( obsolete ) problema , zagwozdka
problem ( a puzzling circumstance )
Declension
Derived terms
Trivia
According to Słownik frekwencyjny polszczyzny współczesnej (1990), problem is one of the most used words in Polish, appearing 43 times in scientific texts, 92 times in news, 153 times in essays, 11 times in fiction, and 9 times in plays, each out of a corpus of 100,000 words, totaling 308 times, making it the 164th most common word in a corpus of 500,000 words.[ 4]
References
^ Stanisław Dubisz , editor (2003 ), “problem ”, in Uniwersalny słownik języka polskiego [Universal dictionary of the Polish language ] (in Polish), volumes 1-4 , Warsaw: Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN SA, →ISBN
^ Mirosław Bańko , Lidia Wiśniakowska (2021 ) “problem ”, in Wielki słownik wyrazów obcych , →ISBN
^ Bańkowski, Andrzej (2000 ) “problem ”, in Etymologiczny słownik języka polskiego [Etymological Dictionary of the Polish Language ] (in Polish)
^ Ida Kurcz (1990 ) “problem ”, in Słownik frekwencyjny polszczyzny współczesnej [Frequency dictionary of the Polish language ] (in Polish), volume 1, Kraków, Warszawa: Polska Akademia Nauk. Instytut Języka Polskiego, page 434
Further reading
problem in Wielki słownik języka polskiego , Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
problem in Polish dictionaries at PWN
problem in Narodowy Fotokorpus Języka Polskiego
Romanian
Noun
problem n (plural probleme )
Alternative form of problemă
Declension
Serbo-Croatian
Pronunciation
Noun
pròblēm m (Cyrillic spelling про̀бле̄м )
problem
Declension
Swedish
Pronunciation
IPA (key ) : /prʊˈbleːm/ , /prɔ-/ , /-ˈblɛːm/
Hyphenation: pro‧blem
Audio; “ ett problem” : (file )
Noun
problem n
a problem , an issue
Jag har ett problem I have a problem
Vi lyckades lösa problemet We managed to solve the problem
allvarliga problem serious problems
Våra tekniker arbetar på att lösa problemet Our technicians are working on resolving the issue
( in the plural ) trouble
Synonym: ( colloquial ) trubbel
( usually in the plural ) an issue (mental issue)
Den där snubben har problem That guy has issues
a problem (to be solved as schoolwork exercise or the like)
Synonyms: uppgift , fråga , ( math ) tal
schackproblem chess problem
Declension
See also
References
Anagrams
Turkish
Etymology
From French problème .
Pronunciation
Noun
problem (definite accusative problemi , plural problemler )
problem
Synonym: sorun
Declension
Derived terms
Vilamovian
Pronunciation
Noun
problem n
problem
Welsh
Etymology
English problem , ultimately from Ancient Greek πρόβλημα ( próblēma ) .
Pronunciation
Noun
problem f (plural problemau )
problem
Mutation
Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Welsh. All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.
Further reading
R. J. Thomas, G. A. Bevan, P. J. Donovan, A. Hawke et al., editors (1950–present), “problem ”, in Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru Online (in Welsh), University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh & Celtic Studies