problematicprob‧lem‧at‧ic /ˌprɒbləˈmætɪk◂ $ ˌprɑː-/ ●○○ adjective 
The reforms could turn out to be highly problematic.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
- Enforcing this law has been problematic.
- It is important to understand the problematic nature of historical evidence.
- The Foreign Minister said that relations between the two countries are "highly problematic".
- The new salary scale remains a problematic area.
- Establishing risk factors which identify those at an elevated risk of experiencing dementia is problematic because of multi-causality.
- Free inquiry within the liberation movements, then, led to a deep questioning of problematic assumptions in the modern political worldview.
- Hostility and rigidity are particularly problematic because they seldom deliver the desired result over the long term.
- Instead, they pursue a novel identity strategy designed to side-step the potentially problematic issue of nationality.
- Obviously the magistrates were trying to take more care with the girls before them whom they saw as doubly problematic.
- This could have been problematic among competitors, but was openly aired and dealt with by the group.
- This is problematic for cultural arbiters such as I, in various ways.
- Two administrators were fired as a result of problematic operations.
Longman Language Activatorfull of problems
full of problems and difficult to deal with: · It is important to understand the problematic nature of historical evidence.· The new salary scale remains a problematic area.highly problematic: · The Foreign Minister said that relations between the two countries are "highly problematic".
use this about an activity or plan that is full of unexpected problems which make it very difficult: · The preparations for the wedding were fraught with difficulties, but finally everything went well.· Legalization of drugs would be fraught with problems, but the "war on drugs" causes problems too.
an activity or subject where you have to be very careful, because it is full of hidden problems and risks, so that it is very easy to make mistakes or upset people: · House-buying can be a minefield -- you need a good lawyer.· Mozart's music seems so danceable, but most choreographers regard it as a minefield.
informal a situation or subject which at first seems to be simple and easy to deal with, but is full of complicated problems for anyone who gets involved with it: · Census questions about race are a pretty big can of worms.open up a can of worms (=suddenly find that you have to deal with a lot of difficult and unexpected problems): · The government opened up a can of worms when it decided to reorganize the education system.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE ENTRY The reforms could turn out to be highly problematic.COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSADVERB
involving problems and difficult to deal with: The reforms could turn out to be highly problematic.· However, the addition is almost as problematic as it is important.· However, it is often regarded as problematic whether or not animals have mental representations, or use symbolic systems or languages.· The assumption is that it is relatively more fruitful to regard our conformity, rather than our criminality, as problematic.· Third, we are, inpart at least, talking about an activity which appears to be defined as problematic by users themselves.· In other words, it treats as problematic what both the disease and moral models take for granted.· Partly because of this fact, dependent conditionals have been taken as problematic.· This has not consisted simply of middle-class reformers defining the working-class family as problematic, for which there is a long tradition.· While conflict is taken as given, it is also regarded as problematic.
· Exercising that collective responsibility remains highly problematic.· Clearly researching these areas is highly problematic, especially if details about the amount of food eaten are required.· And yet the linkage of colour with verbal expression is highly problematic.· This is usually thought a highly problematic combination.· As we saw in Chapter 1 and as every sensible student of crime knows by now, criminal statistics are highly problematic data.· Political control Effective staff management in education is highly problematic because of the fragmented and diversified centres of control.
· What is actually meant by intention is more problematic, and will be approached in stages.· Relationships between men and women have never been more problematic.· But there was another side to Farah, one that was perhaps more problematic for the Shah.· Too much government, however, is more problematic.· Minority returns-to areas where they will be in a minority-are more problematic.· There are other areas of the traditional feminine economy; however, that are even more problematic.· To follow the argument beyond this level, however, is more problematic.· Vote differs from poll results Finding out what Latino voters think about bilingual education is more problematic.
· The most problematic of these, in view of their diversity, were the first and the last.· This is exactly what seems most problematic here.· The most prominent and, as we had experienced, most problematic symbol of the Legion's past was the singing.· The categories discussed and exemplified above are among the most problematic in translation but are by no means the only ones that cause difficulty.· The casting of an actress to play Susan was the most problematic of the three companion characters.
· Social rights are particularly problematic when the issue of their legal protection arises.· When these identities conflict, as they so often do, the experience is particularly painful, and the resolution particularly problematic.· June was a particularly problematic month.· Hostility and rigidity are particularly problematic because they seldom deliver the desired result over the long term.· Formulating demands around housing design and quality are particularly problematic for feminists.
NOUN· It is important to understand the problematic nature of historical evidence, its advantages and failings, its certainties and its contentions.· Amalgamating their insights produces the following factors which indicate the problematic nature of teams in schools: 1.· Federman's own novels thus revolve around the problematic nature of their own survival.
The reforms could turn out to be highly problematic.