Broadly refers to difficulty, trouble, or hardship. Also used as a suffix meaning 'difficulty in doing something' (e.g., 生活難, 理解難).
This plan has many difficulties.
I'm struggling with financial hardship.
Used in set phrases like 難を逃れる (escape danger) or 難に遭う (meet with an accident). Not a general word for 'accident'.
He narrowly escaped death and avoided disaster.
Refers to a flaw or weak point, often in a person or thing. Common in compounds like 難点 (weak point) or 難癖 (fault-finding).
His plan has several flaws.
Used in expressions like 難を付ける (find fault with) or 難を言う (criticize). Often implies nitpicking or blaming.
He found fault with my proposal.
Housing shortages are serious in this area.
The boss always finds fault with his subordinates' work.
They evacuated early to avoid disaster.
Let's stop nitpicking over small flaws.
relative difficulty; degree of difficulty
refugee; displaced person · person inconvenienced by (lack of something); person stuck (in a situation)
safe; secure; innocuous · acceptable; passable; adequate
theft; robbery
predicament; difficult situation; tight spot
disaster; accident; distress; shipwreck
fault; weakness; drawback · difficult point; crux; point of contention
intractable disease; serious illness
hearing loss; hardness of hearing; deafness · poor reception; area with poor reception
barrier; obstacle; hurdle; difficult point
difficult to understand; abstruse; unintelligible
calamity; misfortune; disaster
hardship; suffering; trial
difficult problem; challenge
difficult voyage; stormy passage; hard flight · rough going; running into trouble; proceeding with difficulty
difficult question; difficult problem; perplexity
rescue; salvage
troublesome; difficult; hard to deal with · suffering; hardship; trouble; difficulty
shipwreck; be shipwrecked
easily; without difficulty; with no trouble
suffering; ordeal; agony · Passion; crucifixion
maritime accident; sea disaster; shipwreck
extremely difficult; next to impossible
fault; flaw; defect
disapproval; reluctance; unwillingness
perilous pass; rough spot
difficult to read; hard-to-read