Translation guide
This entry covers ways to express that something is difficult to comprehend, from casual spoken phrases to formal written terms. It includes adjectives, verbs, and set phrases for describing unclear speech, complex ideas, or confusing situations.
To say that something is generally hard to understand or comprehend.
The most common and versatile word for 'difficult' or 'hard'. It can refer to difficulty in understanding, doing, or dealing with something.
This book is hard to understand.
His explanation was hard to understand.
Literally 'hard to understand'. This is a very natural and common way to say something is not easy to comprehend.
This explanation is hard to understand.
His way of speaking is hard to understand.
More formal than 分かりにくい, emphasizing difficulty in comprehension or grasping the meaning.
This concept is hard to understand.
To say that something is completely impossible to understand, often due to complexity or obscurity.
A strong, somewhat formal term meaning 'incomprehensible' or 'impossible to understand'. Often used in written or serious contexts.
His behavior is impossible to understand.
Means 'incomprehensible' or 'mysterious'. Often used for things that defy logic or common sense.
To say that someone's speech is difficult to understand due to mumbling, accent, or noise.
To say that a situation, explanation, or logic is confusing and hard to follow.
A common casual word meaning 'complicated', 'confusing', or 'tangled'. Often used for situations or explanations that are hard to sort out.
This problem is confusing.
A verb meaning 'to get confused'. Can describe a state of mental confusion when trying to understand something.
The explanation was so complicated that I got confused.
To describe something that is hard to understand because it is highly specialized, abstract, or known only to a few.
分かりにくい specifically means 'hard to understand', while 難しい can mean 'difficult' in a broader sense (hard to do, hard to deal with). Use 分かりにくい when the primary issue is comprehension.
This puzzle is difficult (to solve).
This explanation is hard to understand.
While 理解するのが難しい is grammatically correct, it sounds stiff. Use 分かりにくい or 難しい for natural speech.
This rule is hard to understand.
その事件は不可解な点が多い。
There are many incomprehensible points in that incident.
A colloquial, onomatopoeic phrase meaning 'totally incomprehensible' or 'all Greek to me'. Used in casual speech.
What he says is totally incomprehensible.
It's hard to hear the teacher from the back seats.
His writing is obscure and hard to read.