challenging

1. 1.

   requiring full use of your abilities or resources

   “ambitious schedule”

   “performed the most challenging task without a mistake”

   Synonymsambitious

   Similardifficult
2. 2.

   stimulating interest or thought

   “a challenging hypothesis”

   “a thought-provoking book”

   Synonymsthought-provoking

   Similarstimulating
3. 3.

   disturbingly provocative

   “an intriguing smile”

   Synonymsintriguing

   Similarprovocative

Questions about challenging

What does challenging mean?

challenging means "requiring full use of your abilities or resources". That is the primary sense; the word has 3 in total, listed in full on this page.

How many syllables are in challenging?

challenging has 3 syllables: chal-len-ging. The stress falls on "chal". In IPA it is /ˈtʃæləndʒɪŋ/.

What is another word for challenging?

Close synonyms include ambitious, thought-provoking, intriguing. Each sense on this page lists its own synonyms, because a word with several meanings rarely has one substitute that works for all of them.

Is challenging a common word?

challenging is banded "Common" — everyday vocabulary in speech and writing. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.