I.
noun
1 sth that causes difficulties
ADJECTIVE
▪ acute , big , enormous , grave , great , huge , important , major , serious , significant
▪
Our greatest ~ is the lack of funds.
▪ global
▪
The traffic in illegal drugs is a global ~.
▪ terrible
▪
The accident poses a terrible ~ for the family.
▪ real
▪ perceived
▪ little , minor , petty , slight
▪ complex , complicated , difficult , knotty , thorny , tough
▪ growing
▪ basic , central , fundamental , key , main , major , number-one ( esp. AmE )
▪
Access to capital is often the number-one ~ for many entrepreneurs.
▪ underlying
▪
the underlying ~ that's causing your high blood pressure
▪ annoying , vexing ( esp. AmE )
▪ common
▪ pressing , urgent
▪ unforeseen
▪
Unforeseen ~s often arise.
▪ immediate
▪ possible , potential
▪
Fortunately, it's easy to avoid any potential ~s.
▪ insoluble , insuperable ( formal ), insurmountable ( formal ), intractable ( formal )
▪
Depression is a natural feeling if your ~s seem intractable.
▪ unresolved , unsolved
▪
The role of the sun in climate change is still a big unsolved ~.
▪ age-old , long-standing , long-term , perennial
▪ chronic , ongoing , persistent , recurring
▪ inherent
▪
the inherent ~s of merging two very different companies
▪ logistical , practical
▪ mechanical , technical
▪ systemic
▪
Systemic security ~s have been identified.
▪ attitude , behaviour/behavior , behavioural/behavioral , developmental , emotional , mental , mental-health , psychiatric , psychological
▪
His teachers say he has an attitude ~.
▪ family , personal
▪
Her new job had taken her mind off her family ~s for a while.
▪ communication
▪
We had communication ~s.
▪ fertility , health , medical , physical , sexual , sleep
▪ back , heart , knee
▪ alcohol , drink ( BrE ), drinking ( AmE ), drug , gambling , substance-abuse
▪
She had serious substance abuse ~s with both cocaine and heroin.
▪ social
▪ housing
▪ economic , financial , money
▪
They sold their car to ease their financial ~s.
▪ environmental
▪ political
▪ legal
▪ marital , marriage
▪ ethical , moral
▪
Most people can see the ethical ~ with accepting such an offer.
… OF PROBLEMS
▪ host , set
▪
We're faced with a whole host of new ~s.
▪
an elegant solution to a very complex set of ~s
VERB + PROBLEM
▪ be , pose , present (sb with) , remain
▪
Inadequate resources pose a ~ for all members of staff.
▪ have
▪ develop
▪
He developed a drinking ~.
▪ bring , cause , create , pose
▪
Success brings its own ~s.
▪
Staff shortages cause ~s for the organization.
▪ complicate , compound
▪ be beset with , be confronted by , be confronted with , be dogged by ( esp. BrE ), be faced with , be fraught with , confront , encounter , experience , face , run into , suffer
▪
He has been faced with all sorts of ~s in his new job.
▪
The plan has been fraught with ~s from the start.
▪ battle
▪
an important step in battling the terrorist ~
▪ attribute , blame
▪
the ~s attributed to capitalism
▪
They blame the ~ on the new prescription drug law.
▪ raise
▪
She raised the ~ of falling sales at the last meeting.
▪ see
▪
He doesn't really see the ~.
▪ define
▪ acknowledge , admit , recognize
▪
I'm glad you finally admitted your ~.
▪ understand
▪
He doesn't seem to understand my ~.
▪ anticipate , foresee
▪
I don't anticipate any future ~s in that regard.
▪ detect , discover , identify , isolate , pinpoint , spot
▪ indicate , point out
▪
These symptoms may indicate a serious ~.
▪ assess , examine , investigate , study
▪
They created a task force to study this ~.
▪ diagnose , figure out ( esp. AmE ), work out
▪ consider , debate , discuss , look at , look into
▪ describe , frame ( esp. AmE )
▪
Framing the ~ is an important step.
▪ address , approach , attack , combat , come to grips with , counter , get to grips with , grapple with , handle , manage , tackle
▪
The next meeting will address the ~ of obesity.
▪ illustrate
▪
This illustrates another potential ~.
▪ highlight , underscore ( esp. AmE )
▪
This underscores the biggest ~ with electronic voting.
▪ mask
▪
All the anti-depressant does is mask the ~.
▪ avoid , circumvent , find a way around , find a way round ( esp. BrE ), get around , get round ( esp. BrE ), prevent , sidestep
▪ ignore
▪ overlook
▪
For years I've tried to overlook this ~.
▪ forget
▪
I forgot my ~s for a moment.
▪ clear up , correct , cure , deal with , eliminate , fix ( esp. AmE ), iron out , overcome , rectify , remedy , repair , resolve , settle , solve , sort out , troubleshoot
▪
He had to undergo surgery to cure the ~ with his knee.
▪ alleviate , ease , minimize , mitigate , reduce , relieve , simplify
▪ aggravate , exacerbate , exaggerate , magnify , worsen
▪ analyse/analyze , explore
PROBLEM + VERB
▪ arise , come up , crop up , emerge , occur , surface
▪
~s arising from poor ventilation
▪ exist
▪ begin , originate
▪
No one ever asked why or how the ~ originated.
▪ persist , remain
▪
If the ~ persists you should see a doctor.
▪
The basic ~ remains the lack of available housing.
▪ afflict sb , beset sb , confront sb , face sb , plague sb
▪ lie in sth
▪
The ~ lies in the lack of communication between managers and staff.
▪
Therein lies the ~.
▪ result from sth , stem from sth
▪
a ~ resulting from technical inadequacy
PROBLEM + NOUN
▪ area , spot
▪ behaviour/behavior
▪ child
▪ drinker , gambler
▪
One out of every five people is a ~ drinker.
▪ drinking , gambling
▪
a new approach to ~ drinking
▪ page ( BrE ) (= in a magazine, containing letters about readers' problems)
PREPOSITION
▪ ~ about
▪
I didn't imagine there would be a ~ about getting tickets.
▪ ~ for
▪
The rail strike is a ~ for all commuters.
▪ ~ of
▪
the ~ of poverty
▪ ~ with
▪
Do you have a ~ with her?
PHRASES
▪ an approach to a ~
▪ the crux of the ~ , the heart of the ~ , the root of the ~
▪
We need to get to the root of the ~ before we can solve it.
▪ the answer to a ~ , a remedy to a ~ , a solution to a ~
▪
He believes he may have found the answer to his ~.
▪
He believes he may have found a solution to the ~.
▪ the scale of a ~
2 question to be solved
ADJECTIVE
▪ complicated , difficult
▪ easy , simple
▪ math ( AmE ), mathematical , maths ( BrE )
▪
the ability to solve simple mathematical ~s
VERB + PROBLEM
▪ do , find the answer to , solve , work out
▪
I have five ~s to do for homework.
PROBLEM + NOUN
▪ set ( AmE )
II.
adj.
Problem is used with these nouns: ↑ area , ↑ behaviour , ↑ child , ↑ drinker , ↑ gambler , ↑ gambling