English · Word Candidate

problematic

/ˌpɹɒb.ləˈmæt.ɪk/

Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.

Also seen as: problematics

Sense 1

Meaning · English

Posing a problem; having or suffering from problem(s): — Difficult to overcome, solve, or decide.

Adjective

Examples

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.

Usage example from English Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-08-01)

Sources & notes

Adapted from English Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-08-01 via kaikki.org).

Sense 2

Meaning · English

Posing a problem; having or suffering from problem(s): — Not settled, uncertain, of uncertain outcome; debatable, questionable, open to doubt.

Adjective

Examples

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.

Usage example from English Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-08-01)

Sources & notes

Adapted from English Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-08-01 via kaikki.org).

Sense 3

Meaning · English

A problem or difficulty in a particular field of study.

Noun

Examples

The seemingly intractable problematic of essentialism versus antiessentialism and primordialism versus circumstantialism endemic to identity analysis today.

Usage example from English Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-08-01)

Sources & notes

Adapted from English Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-08-01 via kaikki.org).

Common questions

What does “problematic” mean?

Posing a problem; having or suffering from problem(s): — Difficult to overcome, solve, or decide.

Is “problematic” formal or informal?

No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.