racter; _of_ action; _of_ style; (less frequently) a
difference (controversy) _with_ a person; a difference _of_ one thing
_from_ (incorrectly _to_) another.
* * * * *
DIFFICULT.
Synonyms:
arduous, hard, onerous, toilsome,
exhausting, laborious, severe, trying.
_Arduous_ (L. _arduus_, steep) signifies primarily so steep and lofty as
to be difficult of ascent, and hence applies to that which involves
great and sustained exertion and ordinarily for a lofty aim; great
learning can only be won by _arduous_ toil. _Hard_ applies to anything
that resists our endeavors as a scarcely penetrable mass resists our
physical force. Anything is _hard_ that involves tax and strain whether
of the physical or mental powers. _Difficult_ is not used of that which
merely taxes physical force; a dead lift is called _hard_ rather than
_difficult_; breaking stone on the road would be called _hard_ rather
than _difficult_ work; that is _difficult_ which involves skill,
sagacity, or address, with or without a considerable expenditure of
physical force; a geometrical problem may be _difficult_ to solve, a
tangled skein to unravel; a mountain _difficult_ to ascend. _Hard_ may
be active or passive; a thing may be _hard_ to do or _hard_ to bear.
_Arduous_ is always active. That which is _laborious_ or _toilsome_
simply requires the steady application of labor or toil till
accomplished; _toilsome_ is the stronger word. That which is _onerous_
(L. _onus_, a burden) is mentally burdensome or oppressive.
Responsibility may be _onerous_ even when it involves no special
exertion.
Antonyms:
easy, facile, light, pleasant, slight, trifling, trivial.
* * * * *
DIRECTION.
Synonyms:
aim, bearing, course, inclination, tendency, way.
The _direction_ of an object is the line of motion or of vision toward
it, or the line in which the object is moving, considered from our own
actual or mental standpoint. _Way_, literally the road or path, comes
naturally to mean the _direction_ of the road or path; conversationally,
_way_ is almost a perfect synonym of _direction_; as, which _way_ did he
go? or, in which _direction_? _Bearing_ is the _direction_ in which an
object is seen with reference to another, and especially with reference
to the points of the compass. _Course_ is the _direction_ of a moving
object; _inclination_, that toward which a st
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