Difficult
Difficult adjective - Requiring considerable physical or mental effort.
Frightening and difficult are semantically related. In some cases you can use "Frightening" instead an adjective "Difficult".
Nearby Word: difficulty
Frightening
Frightening adjective - Causing fear.
Difficult and frightening are semantically related. Sometimes you can use "Difficult" instead an adjective "Frightening".
Mutual synonyms
Both words in one sentence
- The small colossi from Shadow of the Colossus are some of the most frightening and difficult bosses as they are much, much faster than the player and not any less dangerous than the big ones.
Source: Lightning Bruiser / Video Games - Comments: This series is gritty, insane, sadistic, morally bankrupt...and yet it's almost frightening how it's not all that difficult to imagine any of the characters here doing what they do.
Source: Fanfic Recs / Sherlock - The areas immediately preceding it, the Prison and Catacombs, are full of monsters, difficult puzzles, violations of space-time, and are definitely the most frightening and depressing locations in the game.
Source: Breather Level
Cite this Source
Frightening and Difficult. (2016). Retrieved 2026, August 07, from https://thesaurus.plus/related/difficult/frightening
Difficult & Frightening. N.p., 2016. Web. 07 Aug. 2026. <https://thesaurus.plus/related/difficult/frightening>.
Frightening or Difficult. 2016. Accessed August 07, 2026. https://thesaurus.plus/related/difficult/frightening.
Google Ngram Viewer shows how "difficult" and "frightening" have occurred on timeline