English Vocabulary in Use: Advanced Book with Answers and Enhanced eBook Vocabulary Reference and Practice 3rd Edition

obstructive
causing deliberate difficulties
person, measure, behaviour
tough
difficult to deal with or do
time, job, climate, decision
traumatic
shocking and upsetting
experience, past, childhood
wayward
changeable, selfish and/or hard to control
behaviour, child, person
Common
 
mistakes
Difficulty
 is used in the singular in the expression
 
to have difficulty in doing something
: 
I had great 
difficulty in finding
 a job at first
(NOT great difficulties).
Informal expressions relating to difficulties
Oh dear, more homework! 
What a pain! / What a drag! 
[What a nuisance!]
The software is good for editing still images, but editing video is a real 
chore. 
[boring job that has 
to be done]
What’s eating him? / What’s got into him? / What’s bugging him? / What’s (up) with him? 
[What’s the matter with him?]
I can’t face the 
hassle of moving house again. 
[situation causing trouble or difficulty]
My daughter keeps 
hassling me for a new bike. 
[asking again and again]
Having to listen to him singing is sheer 
torture! 
[used figuratively to refer to an unpleasant experience]
to slog (your guts out) / to grind / to graft / to flog yourself to death 
[to work hard]
in a fix / in a spot / in a hole / up against it / up to your neck 
[in a difficult situation]
The company’s in a 
sticky/tricky situation now the workers are going to strike. 
[difficult]
I think I’m 
off the hook / in the clear / out of the wood(s) now. 
[freed from a difficult situation]
The