difficile
French, adjective/di.fi.sil/
difficile is spelled D-I-F-F-I-C-I-L-E (9 letters) and appears 148 times per million words in written French, the 553rd most frequent French word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Difficile is a French adjective meaning “difficult” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) defines it as “Non facile, qui nécessite un grand effort”.
What does difficile mean in English?
adjective
- 1
difficult
Near-synonym: compliqué
- 2
choosy, fussy, picky
être difficile
Source: English Wiktionary, French section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How French dictionaries define it
adjective: 1. Non facile, qui nécessite un grand effort. 2. Qui est malaisé ; qui donne de la peine. 3. Qui est exigeant, délicat. 4. Qui est peu probable.
noun: 1. Ce qui n'est pas facile. 2. Personne exigeante.
The definition in the French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire), in French.
Source: French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire), dump of September 1, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org.
Forms of difficile
- difficiles plural
Source: English Wiktionary and French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
How do you pronounce difficile?
- /di.fi.sil/
- [d͡zifɪsɪl]
- [d͡zɪfɪsɪl]
Sources: English Wiktionary, French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026); recordings from Wikimedia Commons.
English words that translate to difficile
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is difficile in French?
difficile appears 148 times per million words in written French.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).