Challenging

How to spell challenging

11 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce challenging

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does challenging mean?

1. adjectiveDemanding effort, skill, or determination; testing one's abilities in a stimulating way.

Challenging in a sentence

• The new role was challenging but deeply rewarding.

• Climbing the north face is challenging even for experienced hikers.

Where does challenging come from?

Language of origin: French

This word grows from 'challenge', which English took from the Old French 'chalenge', meaning an accusation or a claim. That noun traces back to the Latin 'calumnia', which literally meant a false accusation, trickery, or slander; the same Latin root sits behind the modern word 'calumny'. Over the medieval centuries the sense softened from accusing someone to disputing or laying claim to something, and finally to inviting someone to a contest of skill. The present participle form 'challenging', spelled with that telltale silent 'g' before the soft '-ing', came to describe anything that tests one's abilities or demands real effort. The spelling trap lives in the middle: the doubled 'l' and the unexpected '-eng-' both survive from the French ancestor.

How the word is built

• challeng- (from challenge: to call to account)
• -ing (adjective/participle suffix)