Word Study
problematic
WORDNET DICTIONARY
Adjective problematic has 2 senses
- problematic(s = adj.all) debatable, problematical - open to doubt or debate; "If you ever get married, which seems to be extremely problematic"
- problematic(s = adj.all) baffling, elusive, knotty, problematical, tough - 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" Derived form noun problem1
CIDE DICTIONARY
problematic, a. [L. problematicus, Gr. : cf. F. problématique.].
Having the nature of a problem; not shown in fact; questionable; uncertain; unsettled; doubtful. [1913 Webster]
"Diligent inquiries into remote and problematical guilt leave a gate wide open to . . . informers."
[1913 Webster]
OXFORD DICTIONARY
problematic, adj. (also problematical)
1 attended by difficulty.
2 doubtful or questionable.
3 Logic enunciating or supporting what is possible but not necessarily true.
1 attended by difficulty.
2 doubtful or questionable.
3 Logic enunciating or supporting what is possible but not necessarily true.
Derivative
problematically adv.
Etymology
F probl{eacute}matique or LL problematicus f. Gk problematikos (as PROBLEM)
THESAURUS
problematic
a bit thick, a bit thin, absurd, ambiguous, arguable, at issue, baffling, bewildering, beyond belief, bothering, confounding, confusing, confutable, conjectural, contestable, controversial, controvertible, debatable, deniable, difficult, discomposing, disconcerting, dismaying, disputable, disputed, distracting, disturbing, doubtable, doubted, doubtful, dubious, dubitable, embarrassing, enigmatic, hairy, hard of belief, hard to believe, iffy, implausible, in dispute, in doubt, in dubio, in question, inconceivable, incredible, indecisive, intricate, mistakable, moot, mysterious, mystifying, not deserving belief, open, open to doubt, open to question, open to suspicion, passing belief, perplexing, perturbing, precarious, preposterous, problematical, puzzling, questionable, questioned, refutable, ridiculous, sensitive, speculative, staggering belief, suppositional, suspect, suspicious, tall, thick, thin, touchy, tricky, unbelievable, uncertain, unconvincing, undecided, unearthly, ungodly, unimaginable, unsettled, unthinkable, unworthy of belief, upsetting
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