challenge

noun

OPAL W

/ˈtʃælɪndʒ/

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a new or difficult task that tests somebody’s ability and skill
- a tough/major/significant challenge
- The role will be the biggest challenge of his acting career.
- She still faces many challenges (= has to deal with them).
- Destruction of the environment is one of the most serious challenges we face.
- The greatest challenge facing the region is unemployment.
- Rapid industrialization presents both challenges and opportunities.
- challenge of something Countries need to work together to address the challenge of climate change.
- Schools must meet the challenge of new technology (= deal with it successfully).
- I’m looking forward to the challenge of my new job.
- challenge of doing something The gallery has risen to the challenge of exhibiting the works of young artists.
- challenge for somebody/something The challenge for the government is to find a way of providing affordable housing.
- challenge to somebody/something Digital piracy continues to pose huge challenges to the industry.
Wordfinder
- adrenaline
- adventure
- attempt
- challenge
- enthusiasm
- escapade
- excitement
- explore
- kick
- thrill
Extra Examples
- He has taken on some exciting new challenges with this job.
- Liszt's piano music presents an enormous technical challenge.
- She could always be counted on when a challenge arose.
- The army faced the daunting challenge of fighting a war on two fronts.
- The challenge lies in creating a demand for the product.
- The competitive market represents significant challenges for farmers.
- the challenges facing nurses in casualty
Oxford Collocations Dictionary
adjective
- big
- considerable
- enormous
- …
verb + challenge
- be
- constitute
- remain
- …
challenge + verb
- confront somebody
- face somebody
- arise
- …
See full entry
an invitation or a suggestion to somebody that they should enter a competition, fight, etc.
- She accepted his challenge to a debate on the issue.
- I'm looking forward to taking on the challenge.
- challenge for something He plans to mount a challenge for the party leadership.
Extra Examples
- She took up his challenge.
- plans to mount a leadership challenge within the party
- his title challenge to the heavyweight champion
- a challenge from the other political party
- I accepted his challenge to a game of chess.
Topics Suggestions and adviceb2
Oxford Collocations Dictionary
adjective
- effective
- serious
- strong
- …
verb + challenge
- be
- constitute
- present
- …
preposition
- challenge from
- challenge to
See full entry
a statement or an action that shows that somebody refuses to accept something and questions whether it is right, legal, etc.
- Their legal challenge was unsuccessful.
- challenge to something It was a direct challenge to the president's authority.
- challenge from somebody The commission reconsidered the rules after a challenge from the television networks.
Extra Examples
- The demonstration represents a direct challenge to the new law.
- a legal challenge to the President's power
- He was answering challenges to the government's policy.
- Our team will have to fight off the challenge from better trained teams.
Oxford Collocations Dictionary
adjective
- effective
- serious
- strong
- …
verb + challenge
- be
- constitute
- present
- …
preposition
- challenge from
- challenge to
See full entry

Word OriginMiddle English (in the senses ‘accusation’ and ‘accuse’): from Old French chalenge (noun), chalenger (verb), from Latin calumnia ‘calumny’, calumniari ‘slander’.

challenge

verb

OPAL W

/ˈtʃælɪndʒ/

Verb Forms

present simple I / you / we / they challenge	/ˈtʃælɪndʒ/ /ˈtʃælɪndʒ/
he / she / it challenges	/ˈtʃælɪndʒɪz/ /ˈtʃælɪndʒɪz/
past simple challenged	/ˈtʃælɪndʒd/ /ˈtʃælɪndʒd/
past participle challenged	/ˈtʃælɪndʒd/ /ˈtʃælɪndʒd/
-ing form challenging	/ˈtʃælɪndʒɪŋ/ /ˈtʃælɪndʒɪŋ/

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to question whether a statement or an action is right, legal, etc.; to refuse to accept something synonym dispute
- challenge something His legal team immediately sought to challenge the decision.
- The story was completely untrue and was successfully challenged in court.
- She does not like anyone challenging her authority.
- This discovery challenges traditional beliefs.
- The new study challenges fundamental assumptions about the virus.
- challenge somebody on something She challenged him on his old-fashioned views.
- challenge somebody He repeated the claim but the interviewer did not challenge him.
Language Bank argue
argueVerbs for reporting an opinion
- Some critics argue that Picasso remained a great master all his life.
- Others maintain that there is a significant deterioration in quality in his post-war work.
- Picasso himself claimed that good art is created, but great art is stolen.
- As Smith has noted, Picasso borrowed imagery from African art.
- As the author points out, Picasso borrowed imagery from African art.
- The writer challenges the notion that Picasso’s sculpture was secondary to his painting.
- It has been suggested that Picasso’s painting was influenced by jazz music.
Extra Examples
- Harley sought to challenge the jurisdiction of the court.
- She was effectively challenging the whole basis on which society was run.
- The newspaper was directly challenging the government's legitimacy.
Topics Law and justiceb2
Oxford Collocations Dictionary
adverb
- directly
- openly
- publicly
- …
verb + challenge
- seek to
preposition
- on
See full entry
to invite somebody to enter a competition, fight, etc.; to suggest strongly that somebody should do something (especially when you think that they might be unwilling to do it)
- challenge somebody to something Mike challenged me to a game of chess.
- The count challenged him to a duel.
- challenge somebody to do something The opposition leader challenged the prime minister to call an election.
Topics Suggestions and adviceb2
Oxford Collocations Dictionary
adverb
- seriously
- successfully
- unsuccessfully
- …
preposition
- for
- to
See full entry
[intransitive, transitive] to enter into to a competition against somebody to achieve something or take something from them
- challenge for something She was poised to challenge for the party leadership.
- challenge somebody for something He challenged her for the role of leader.
- challenge somebody She is the person most likely to challenge him before the next election.
to test somebody’s/your ability and skills, especially in an interesting way
- challenge somebody The job doesn't really challenge her.
- No one has seriously challenged the champion.
- challenge yourself She continues to challenge herself as a dancer.
challenge somebody to order somebody to stop and say who they are or what they are doing
- We were challenged by police at the border.

Word OriginMiddle English (in the senses ‘accusation’ and ‘accuse’): from Old French chalenge (noun), chalenger (verb), from Latin calumnia ‘calumny’, calumniari ‘slander’.