Struggle

How to spell struggle

8 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce struggle

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does struggle mean?

1. verbTo make a strenuous or difficult effort against opposition or hardship.
2. nounA difficult effort, contest, or period of hardship.

Struggle in a sentence

• verb

  Many graduates struggle to find work in their chosen field.

• noun

  Learning to drive was a real struggle for her at first.

• verb

  He had to struggle against the strong current to reach the shore.

• noun

  The company faced a long struggle to recover from the recession.

Where does struggle come from?

Language of origin: Unknown

The origin of struggle is genuinely murky, which makes it one of those English words with no tidy family tree. It first appears in Middle English as struglen around the late 1300s, meaning 'to contend violently' or 'to make great muscular effort'. The -le ending is a frequentative suffix, the same one seen in words like 'wrestle' and 'grapple', which suggests repeated or vigorous effort and fits the sense perfectly. Scholars have proposed links to Old Norse roots such as strjuka 'to stroke or strike', but no connection is firmly established, so the deeper source remains unknown. The spelling settled with the double g and the silent-feeling -le ending, which is the main trap, since the cluster -ggle is what trips writers up. Modern English uses it for both physical exertion and any difficult mental or practical contest.

How the word is built

• strugg- (Middle English struglen, of uncertain origin)
• -le (frequentative verb suffix indicating repeated action)