challenging

1. 1
   adjective

   Difficult to do, demanding considerable effort, skill, or determination.

   The new role proved challenging, requiring skills she had never used before.

   Negotiating the contract was a challenging task for the entire legal team.

   Similardifficult, demanding, tough, hard, taxing

   Oppositeeasy, simple, undemanding

   Note

   Built from challenge plus -ing, the adjective describes whatever puts a person to the test: a challenging task, role or climb. It compares with more and most, not -er and -est (a more challenging year, the most challenging case). It sits as easily after a verb as before a noun: the role proved challenging.

2. 2
   verb

   Present participle and gerund of challenge.

   Critics are challenging the company's safety claims in the press.

   Challenging the status quo often requires both evidence and courage.

   Note

   The -ing form does two jobs. After be it makes the progressive (critics are challenging the claims), and on its own it heads a noun phrase (challenging the status quo takes courage). Either way it keeps the verb's direct object. That object is the quickest test against the adjective meaning "difficult": the verb takes an object, while the adjective takes very or more instead.

3. 3
   noununcountable

   The act of making a challenge: questioning, disputing, or formally calling someone to compete.

   The challenging of the witness lasted nearly two hours in court.

   Open challenging of authority was rare in that strict household.

   Similarquestioning, defiance

   Note

   This noun takes of, unlike the gerund, which keeps a direct object. Compare the challenging of the witness with challenging the witness. It is also countable, so it can be plural. Estcourt Rowland Metzner, in The conflict of tax laws (1918), writes of "sincere challengings of the findings."

Showing meanings only. Show all 3