problematic

Valid in Scrabble

Scrabble points
19
Words With Friends
24
Letters
11
Pronunciation
/ˌpɹɒb.ləˈmæt.ɪk/
See all 4 pronunciations
/ˌpɹɒb.ləˈmæt.ɪk/ · /ˌpɹɑ.bləˈmæt.ɪk/ · /ˌprɔ.bləˌmæ.ʈɪk/ · /ˈprɔ.blə.mə.ʈɪk/

Definition of problematic

5 senses · 2 parts of speech · etymology included

adj

  1. Posing a problem; having or suffering from problem(s):
    “And the most problematic thing of all is that it is impossible for me even to know and tell you their names, unless one of them happens to be a playwright.”
    “However, estimating what consumers will pay in the future is problematic.”
    “The station is blessed with a cafe and staff accommodation, as it's an important crew changeover point, although this can be problematic when services are late.”
See all 5 definitions

adj

  1. Posing a problem; having or suffering from problem(s):
    “And the most problematic thing of all is that it is impossible for me even to know and tell you their names, unless one of them happens to be a playwright.”
    “However, estimating what consumers will pay in the future is problematic.”
    “The station is blessed with a cafe and staff accommodation, as it's an important crew changeover point, although this can be problematic when services are late.”
  2. Posing a problem; having or suffering from problem(s):
    “The strangeness of hiring undocumented Mexican women as domestics, many of whom were no older than fifteen, seemed strange to me. It was this strangeness that raised the topic of domestic service as a question and made problematic what had previously been taken for granted.”
    “a problematic analysis”
    “it portends a problematic future for the movement”
  3. Posing a problem; having or suffering from problem(s):
  4. (dated)Only affirming the possibility that a predicate be actualised.

noun

  1. A problem or difficulty in a particular field of study.
    “The seemingly intractable problematic of essentialism versus antiessentialism and primordialism versus circumstantialism endemic to identity analysis today.”
    “However, for those who come to India’s railway history for the first time, perhaps via knowledge of other countries’ railway histories with which they want to make India-based comparisons or in pursuit of a particular problematic—for example the role of railways in economic development—this chapter may prove useful.”

Definitions from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA.

Etymology

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.

Words you can make from problematic

200+ playable · top: COMPATIBLE (18 pts)

Best play compatible 18 points

10-letter words

1 word

9-letter words

5 words

8-letter words

39 words

7-letter words

116 words

6-letter words

38 words

Hooks

1 extension · 1 back

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