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# challenging

adjective (challenging; more challenging, most challenging)

«challenging» in the English dictionary: everyday — its meanings, how the lessons use it, and examples, each with its tree on Mova.

## Everyday

1. hard, needing effort or skill (a challenging puzzle). [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/challenging/#m1)
2. (euphemism, jargon) bad, very difficult, troublesome: a «challenging child» = badly behaved; a «challenging year» = an awful one. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/challenging/#m2)
3. questioning or confronting (a challenging look). [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/challenging/#m3)

### In the lessons

In business, school and politics people say «challenging» instead of «bad» or «awful» to sound positive and in control; teachers say «challenging behaviour» for bad behaviour. All regions.

### Examples

- This is a challenging maths problem; take your time. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/challenging/#x1)
- The company had a challenging year (it lost a lot of money). [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/challenging/#x2)
- The class has some challenging behaviour (some pupils misbehave). [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/challenging/#x3)
- Climbing the mountain was challenging but fun. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/challenging/#x4)
- He gave the teacher a challenging stare. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/challenging/#x5)
- The news report called the weather «challenging»: a storm closed the roads. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/challenging/#x6)
- Report: «Sam can find group work challenging.» [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/challenging/#x7)

### Note

Trap: in reports and news it often means «bad» or «a problem». In a puzzle book it means «hard». Notice which.

## On Mova

- [Trees and pragmatics of «challenging» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/challenging/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- [«challenging» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/challenging.html) on Mova free.