CHALLENGING

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does challenging mean? 

• CHALLENGING (adjective)
  The adjective CHALLENGING has 3 senses:

1. requiring full use of your abilities or resources

2. stimulating interest or thought

3. disturbingly provocative

  Familiarity information: CHALLENGING used as an adjective is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• CHALLENGING (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Requiring full use of your abilities or resources

Synonyms:

ambitious; challenging

Context example:

performed the most challenging task without a mistake

Similar:

difficult; hard (not easy; requiring great physical or mental effort to accomplish or comprehend or endure)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Stimulating interest or thought

Synonyms:

challenging; thought-provoking

Context example:

a thought-provoking book

Similar:

stimulating (rousing or quickening activity or the senses)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Disturbingly provocative

Synonyms:

challenging; intriguing

Context example:

an intriguing smile

Similar:

provocative (serving or tending to provoke, excite, or stimulate; stimulating discussion or exciting controversy)

 Context examples 

Their valves provided a snapshot of early CAVD that is challenging to capture in humans, showing that it typically begins with the accumulation of certain sugar molecules called glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) in valve tissue.

(New Hope for Stopping An Understudied Heart Disease in Its Tracks, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

Studying the placenta in humans is challenging: it is time-consuming, subject to a great deal of variability and potentially risky for the fetus.

(Researchers design placenta-on-a-chip to better understand pregnancy, NIH)

Because natural F. tularensis is highly infectious and therefore challenging to work with, the group developed synthetic lipids—PE2410 and PEPC2410—that would be much easier to study and produce.

(Natural lipid acts as potent anti-inflammatory, National Institutes of Health)

While planets have previously been found in the habitable zone, they are all at least 40 percent larger in size than Earth, and understanding their makeup is challenging.

(Kepler Telescope Discovers First Earth-Size Planet in 'Habitable Zone', NASA)

However, the new study is challenging this idea by looking into the fossil record.

(What makes a mammal a mammal? Our spine, say scientists, National Science Foundation)

This high-temperature requirement is challenging to operate inside a vehicle, but such temperatures are also reached in conventional internal combustion engines.

(New, high-energy rechargeable batteries, NSF)

Hunting for dark matter concentrations devoid of stars has proved challenging.

(Cosmic Magnifying Glasses Find Dark Matter in Small Clumps, NASA)

The discovery suggests that the salty subsurface ocean of Europa may chemically resemble Earth's oceans more than previously thought, challenging decades of supposition about the composition of those waters.

(Table Salt Compound Spotted on Europa, NASA)

However, capturing the protein’s multiple states in a crystal is challenging, and could potentially trap subtly misfolded or incorrect structures.

(Structural states of a brain receptor revealed, NIH)

It is possible that due to their biological predispositions, some individuals develop brain networks that favor intelligent behaviors or more challenging cognitive tasks.

(Smart People Have Better Connected Brains, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)