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problematic

prob·le·ma·tic

UK/ˌpɹɒb.ləˈmæt.ɪk/ US/ˌpɹɑ.bləˈmæt.ɪk/ uncommon dated

adjective

1.

open to doubt or debate

  • “If you ever get married, which seems to be extremely problematic”
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2.

making great mental demands; hard to comprehend or solve or believe

  • “a baffling problem”
  • “I faced the knotty problem of what to have for breakfast”
  • “a problematic situation at home”
Synonyms
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Origin

Borrowed from Middle French problématique, from Late Latin problematicus, from Ancient Greek προβληματικός (problēmatikós), from πρόβλημα (próblēma, “outjutting, barrier, problem”), from προβάλλω (probállō, “I throw, place before”), from πρό (pró, “before”) + βάλλω (bállō, “I throw, place”). By surface analysis, problem + -atic.

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WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.