problem
Syllables: prob·lem/ˈpɹɒbləm//ˈpɹɑbləm/
problem noun: a difficulty that has to be resolved or dealt with.
Noun
problem (plural problems)
- A difficulty that has to be resolved or dealt with.
- She's leaving because she faced numerous problems to do with racism.
- “[…] 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.”1910, Emerson Hough, chapter I, in The Purchase Price: Or The Cause of Compromise, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC
- Synonyms:
- rub
- An addiction, other substance use disorder, or comparable psychological challenge.
- 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.
- A set of moves required to complete a climb.
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.
- It is more problem to my family than to me.2010, A. M. Aleksander, The Pride of the King
Verb
problem (third-person singular simple present problems, present participle probleming, simple past and past participle problemed)
- To problematize.
- Now, if I thought he was there, it was that at some point in time he told me that's where he would be. If that's probleming you, it's not probleming me.1989, United States, Congress, Senate, Impeachment Trial Committee on the Articles against Judge Alcee L. Hastings, Report of the Senate Impeachment Trial Committee on the Articles Against Judge...
problem meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
problem in Hindi
- difficulty
- समस्या samasyā, मसला maslā, प्रश्न praśna, दिक़्क़त diqqat, दिक्कत dikkat, मुश्किल muśkil
problem in Tamil
- புதிர், அறியாச் செய்தி, கணக்கு, வினா, கடுவினா, சிக்கல்
problem in Marathi
- problem, issue
- समस्या samasyā
- problem
- उदाहरण udāhraṇ
problem in Urdu
- difficulty
- مَسْئَلَہ masala, مُصِیبَت musībat, دِقَّت diqqat, مُشْکِل muśkil
More languagesFewer languages
- problem in Bengali
- সমস্যা śomosśa, ঝামেলা jhamela, মুশকিল muśokil, অসুবিধা ośubidha
- problem in Telugu
- చిక్కు cikku, సమస్య samasya
- problem in Malayalam
- പ്രശ്നം praśnaṁ
- problem in Kannada
- ಸಮಸ್ಯೆ samasye, ತೊಡಕು toḍaku, ಕಷ್ಟ kaṣṭa, ಪ್ರಶ್ನೆ praśne
- problem in Punjabi
- مسئلہ mas'ala, ਮਸਲਾ maslā, رولا raulā, ਸਮੱਸਿਆ samassiā
- problem in Gujarati
- સમસ્યા
- problem in Odia
- ସମସ୍ଯ଼ା
- problem in Sanskrit
- समस्या samasyā
- problem in Nepali
- समस्या samasyā, आइतबार āitabār
- problem in Pashto
- مسئله mas'ala, کشاله kašāla
- problem in Tagalog
- problema
- problem in Arabic
- مُشْكِلَة muškila, تَمْرِين tamrīn, مَسْأَلَة masʔala
- problem in Malay
- masalah, kesulitan, kemusykilan
- problem in Indonesian
- masalah
- problem in Thai
- ปัญหา bpan-hǎa, โจทย์ jòot, เรื่อง rʉ̂ʉang
- problem in Vietnamese
- vấn đề
- problem in Myanmar
- ပြဿနာ pra.ssa.na
Examples of problem in a sentence
- Kate's very good with problems, Chief Inspector.1999 February 3, Anthony Horowitz et al., “Strangler's Wood”, in Midsomer Murders:
- The perfume industry is facing a major problem: maintaining constant levels of quality is crucial, but it is increasingly difficult to obtain a regular supply of all the necessary natural ingredients.2014 March 7, Nicole Vulser, “Perfume manufacturers must cope with the scarcity of precious supplies”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 190...
Synonyms of problem
Antonyms
Forms of problem
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | problems |
| alternative pronunciation-spelling | pro'lem |
| alternative form (obsolete) | probleme |
| Adjective | |
| comparative | more problem |
| superlative | most problem |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | problems |
| present participle | probleming |
| past participle | problemed |
| past | problemed |
Origin of problem
From Middle English probleme, from Middle French probleme, from Latin problēma, 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”). Doublet of problema.
Words formed from problem
- ABA problem
- agency problem
- alcohol problem
- algorithmic problem
- Alhazen's problem
- alignment problem
- Apollonian problem
- Apollonius's problem
- a problem shared is a problem halved
- Archimedes' problem
- art gallery problem
- assignment problem
- Basel problem
- behavior problem
- Behrens-Fisher problem
- binding problem
- birthday problem
- Bongard problem
- boy problems
- Brocard's problem
- Buffon's needle problem
- C10k problem
- C10M problem
- Cadillac problem
- Canadian traveller problem
- candy store problem
- cannonball problem
- Cauchy problem
- champagne problem
- chicken-and-egg problem
- Chinese postman problem
- circle-ellipse problem
- combination problem
- constant problem
- core problem
- counterproblem
- crossed ladders problem
- decision problem
- Delian problem
- dial-a-ride problem
- diamond problem
- Dirichlet problem
- distant starlight problem
- double empathy problem
- drinking problem
- drink problem
- drug problem
- Duhem-Quine problem
- eigenproblem
- extended problem-solving
- fairy problem
- fencepost problem
- Fermi problem
- file-drawer problem
- final parsec problem
- first-world problem
- first world problem
- fiscal problem
- four color problem
- frame problem
Phrases with problem
- no problem
- XY problem
- toy problem
- Y2K problem
- you problem
- goat problem
- open problem
- problem bear
- problem page
- problem play
- Rabi problem
- sofa problem
117 more phrasesFewer phrases
- Uber problem
- word problem
- problem bears
- problem child
- problem pages
- problem plays
- problem solve
- problem space
- Kelvin problem
- museum problem
- n-body problem
- problem solved
- problem solves
- problem spaces
- wicked problem
- Gettier problem
- halting problem
- horizon problem
- Parsons problem
- Plato's problem
- problem glasses
- problem of evil
- problem solving
- species problem
- sunrise problem
- Thomson problem
- Tiffany problem
- trolley problem
- Galton's problem
- Gordan's problem
- Heesch's problem
- is-ought problem
- Josephus problem
- knapsack problem
- majority problem
- move the problem
- problem children
- problem gambling
- problem solvings
- teething problem
- two-body problem
- Waring's problem
- grounding problem
- many-body problem
- moved the problem
- moves the problem
- Newcomb's problem
- problem statement
- secretary problem
- starlight problem
- two child problem
- year 2000 problem
- year 2038 problem
- free-rider problem
- is there a problem
- Malfatti's problem
- Molyneux's problem
- Monty Hall problem
- moving the problem
- one-banana problem
- presenting problem
- problem statements
- scientific problem
- Scunthorpe problem
- three body problem
- three-pipe problem
- white bear problem
- Frege-Geach problem
- last parsec problem
- measurement problem
- moving sofa problem
- nonidentity problem
- what's your problem
- final-parsec problem
- goat grazing problem
- illumination problem
- Moser's worm problem
- optimization problem
- two children problem
- what is your problem
- Zarankiewicz problem
- initial value problem
- initial-value problem
- problem of Apollonius
- problem of universals
- stacker crane problem
- two envelopes problem
- kidnapped robot problem
- principal-agent problem
- readers-writers problem
- sleeping barber problem
- Sleeping Beauty problem
- stable marriage problem
- stable matching problem
- jealous husbands problem
- private language problem
- snake-in-the-box problem
- Houston, we have a problem
- Mercury retrograde problem
- traveling salesman problem
- traveling-salesman problem
- quantum measurement problem
- rice and chessboard problem
- traveling purchaser problem
- travelling salesman problem
- travelling-salesman problem
- Kirkman's schoolgirl problem
- Prouhet-Tarry-Escott problem
- time optimal control problem
- what seems to be the problem
- wheat and chessboard problem
- Turán's brick factory problem
- solution looking for a problem
- solution in search of a problem
- solutions in search of a problem
- missionaries and cannibals problem
- if your only tool is a hammer, then every problem looks like a nail
Questions about problem
- What does problem mean?
- Problem means a difficulty that has to be resolved or dealt with.
- What is problem in Hindi?
- Problem in Hindi is समस्या (samasyā), मसला (maslā), प्रश्न (praśna). See Problem meaning in Hindi.
- How do you use problem in a sentence?
- Kate's very good with problems, Chief Inspector.
- What part of speech is problem?
- Problem can be a noun, an adjective or a verb.
- How do you pronounce problem?
- Problem is pronounced /ˈpɹɒbləm/ (UK).
- What is the plural of problem?
- The plural of problem is problems.
Words near problem in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: problem (page history and authors); problem (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); उदाहरण (Marathi) (page history and authors); చిక్కు (Telugu) (page history and authors); ಕಷ್ಟ (Kannada) (page history and authors); رولا (Punjabi) (page history and authors); problem (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); problem (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); आइतबार (Nepali) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-problem.wav, en-us-problem.ogg.
Cite this entry: “problem.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/problem. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.