Problem: alternatives and connections

That which stands in the way, or opposes; anything that hinders progress; a hindrance; an obstruction, physical or moral.

Use when the problem specifically acts as a barrier.

The act or process of complicating; the state of being complicated; intricate or confused relation of parts; entanglement; complexity.

It usually describes a secondary or added problem.

A box, sheath, or covering; as, a case for holding goods; a case for spectacles; the case of a watch; the case (capsule) of a cartridge; a case (cove…

Open English WordNet identifies the related term as a narrower or more specific lexical category.

A kind of riddle based upon some fanciful or fantastic resemblance between things quite unlike; a puzzling question, of which the answer is or involv…

Open English WordNet identifies the related term as a narrower or more specific lexical category.

A dark, obscure, or inexplicable saying; a riddle; a statement, the hidden meaning of which is to be discovered or guessed.

Open English WordNet identifies the related term as a narrower or more specific lexical category.

A serpent or monster in the lake or marsh of Lerna, in the Peloponnesus, represented as having many heads, one of which, when cut off, was immediatel…

Open English WordNet identifies the related term as a narrower or more specific lexical category.

That of which anything is composed; constituent substance; material; the material or substantial part of anything; the constituent elements of concep…

Open English WordNet identifies the related term as a narrower or more specific lexical category.

One who, or that which, puzzles; a difficult or inexplicable question or fact.

Open English WordNet identifies the related term as a narrower or more specific lexical category.

Something which perplexes or embarrasses; especially, a toy or a problem contrived for testing ingenuity; also, something exhibiting marvelous skill…

Open English WordNet identifies the related term as a narrower or more specific lexical category.

A mode of expressing words and phrases by pictures of objects whose names resemble those words, or the syllables of which they are composed; enigmati…

Open English WordNet identifies the related term as a narrower or more specific lexical category.

A sieve with coarse meshes, usually of wire, for separating coarser materials from finer, as chaff from grain, cinders from ashes, or gravel from san…

Open English WordNet identifies the related term as a narrower or more specific lexical category.

One who, or that which, sticks; as, a bill sticker.

Open English WordNet identifies the related term as a narrower or more specific lexical category.

One who stumps.

Open English WordNet identifies the related term as a narrower or more specific lexical category.

One who teases or vexes.

Open English WordNet identifies the related term as a narrower or more specific lexical category.

Difficulty.

Open English WordNet identifies the related term as a broader lexical category for at least one sense.

The state of being difficult, or hard to do; hardness; arduousness; -- opposed to easiness or facility; as, the difficulty of a task or enterprise; a…

Open English WordNet identifies the related term as a broader lexical category for at least one sense.

The anterior or superior part of an animal, containing the brain, or chief ganglia of the nervous system, the mouth, and in the higher animals, the c…

Open English WordNet identifies the related term as a broader lexical category for at least one sense.

The act of asking; interrogation; inquiry; as, to examine by question and answer.

Open English WordNet identifies the related term as a broader lexical category for at least one sense.

To annoy; to trouble; to worry; to perplex. See Pother.

Open English WordNet records a derivational relationship between these word forms.

To annoy; to trouble; to worry; to perplex. See Pother.

Open English WordNet records a derivational relationship between these word forms.

Full of trouble; causing trouble.

Open English WordNet records a derivational relationship between these word forms.

Full of trouble; causing trouble.

Open English WordNet records a derivational relationship between these word forms.

A sudden thrust or stab; a jab.

Open English WordNet places these words in at least one shared synset. They share a lexicalised sense, but context, register and collocation should still be checked before substitution.

To put into confused motion; to disturb; to agitate.

Open English WordNet places these words in at least one shared synset. They share a lexicalised sense, but context, register and collocation should still be checked before substitution.

The act of passing or flowing out; a moving out from any inclosed place; egress; as, the issue of water from a pipe, of blood from a wound, of air fr…

Issue overlaps with problem, but its tone, intensity or usual context may differ. Check the definition before substituting it.

The state of being difficult, or hard to do; hardness; arduousness; -- opposed to easiness or facility; as, the difficulty of a task or enterprise; a…

Difficulty overlaps with problem, but its tone, intensity or usual context may differ. Check the definition before substituting it.

An invitation to engage in a contest or controversy of any kind; a defiance; specifically, a summons to fight a duel; also, the letter or message con…

Challenge overlaps with problem, but its tone, intensity or usual context may differ. Check the definition before substituting it.

That which stands in the way, or opposes; anything that hinders progress; a hindrance; an obstruction, physical or moral.

Obstacle is something that directly blocks progress.

An argument which presents an antagonist with two or more alternatives, but is equally conclusive against him, whichever alternative he chooses.

Dilemma overlaps with problem, but its tone, intensity or usual context may differ. Check the definition before substituting it.

The act or process of complicating; the state of being complicated; intricate or confused relation of parts; entanglement; complexity.

Complication is an additional difficulty that makes a situation harder.

An invitation to engage in a contest or controversy of any kind; a defiance; specifically, a summons to fight a duel; also, the letter or message con…

Common in professional language, but it can soften the seriousness of a genuine problem.

The act of passing or flowing out; a moving out from any inclosed place; egress; as, the issue of water from a pipe, of blood from a wound, of air fr…

Issue is often a more neutral professional term, but can sound vague.

An invitation to engage in a contest or controversy of any kind; a defiance; specifically, a summons to fight a duel; also, the letter or message con…

Challenge can frame a difficulty as something to address, but should not hide serious harm.