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adjective

challenging

CEFR B1

requiring full use of your abilities or resources

In a sentence

Six example sentences with challenging, each labelled with its topic.

  • The gym's hardest class is challenging enough that most members need three attempts before finishing every round unbroken.

    Fitness

  • Sequencing the fungus proved challenging, demanding every hour of lab time and the entire year's computing budget.

    Science

  • That concerto is famously challenging, and only a handful of pianists attempt the final movement at full tempo.

    Music

  • Guarding the league's best scorer is challenging enough that coaches rotate three defenders onto him every night.

    Basketball

  • The final dungeon is challenging by design, and most players need a week of attempts before the boss falls.

    Gaming

  • Hiring the first salesperson proved more challenging than raising money, since nobody wanted to sell an unproven product.

    Startups

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Found in these word lists

Found in 3 published word listsAuthoritative

Each source is a published word list that contains challenging. No exam board publishes an official GRE, GMAT or SAT list; GMAT words come from GRE lists and the Academic Word List.