Picking a struggle synonym starts with one question: which struggle do you mean? It could be a hard push toward a goal (effort, strive), a tough period (hardship, difficulty), a fight with someone (battle, clash) or a problem you cannot solve yet (grapple with).
Struggle works as a noun and a verb, and the form struggling is common in its own right. Each sense below lists another word for struggle, followed by a struggling synonym list for school, money and health, and struggles synonym options for the plural.
Swatch at a glance
Best swaps (noun)
battle, effort, hardship, difficultyBest swaps (verb)
strive, grapple with, have troublePart of speech
Noun and verbMost formal
endeavor, exertion, contend withMost casual
slog, grind, hassleStrongest
ordeal, uphill battle, toilWord forms covered
struggles, struggled, struggling
Six kinds of struggle
| Kind | Swap in | Line to try |
|---|---|---|
| Hard work toward a goal | effort, battle, slog, exertion | Getting the permit was a long slog. |
| A painful period | hardship, ordeal, trial | The family faced years of hardship. |
| Conflict between sides | conflict, clash, contest | The clash over funding lasted months. |
| Verb: aim hard | strive, push, labor | We strive to answer within a day. |
| Verb: find hard | grapple with, wrestle with | He is grappling with the new software. |
| Verb: physical | wrestle, tussle, thrash | The fish thrashed on the line. |
How heavy is the struggle synonym you pick
The chips above run mild to strong. A hassle is annoying but small. A challenge sounds positive, something you can meet. A strain suggests pressure building up. A battle means long, hard resistance, and an ordeal is a painful experience you survived.
Call a parking problem an ordeal and you sound dramatic. Call an illness a hassle and you sound dismissive. The scale helps you avoid both.
Struggling synonym list by context
Struggling is the form people search most, and the right swap changes by topic.
- At school or work: having trouble, falling behind, finding it hard, out of their depth.
- With money or business: hard up (informal), in difficulty, failing, ailing, short of cash.
- Emotionally: having a hard time, going through a rough patch, finding it tough.
- Physically: straining, laboring, gasping.
A teacher's note home: "Sam is struggling in math." A kinder, clearer line: "Sam is finding fractions hard, and extra practice at home would help." Naming the skill gives the parent something to act on.
Struggles, struggled and sample swaps
For the plural struggles, try difficulties, hardships, challenges or battles. For the past tense struggled, try battled, strove, grappled or had trouble.
- Her struggles with sleep becomes her difficulties with sleep.
- He struggled to finish becomes he strained to finish.
- The struggle for equal pay becomes the campaign for equal pay.
- We struggled with the forms becomes we wrestled with the forms.
Careful: these do not mean the same
Challenge is upbeat, so it can hide how hard something was. Obstacle is the thing in the way, not the effort to pass it; see obstacle synonyms for that sense. Strive describes trying, not failing, so it cannot replace struggling in the shop is struggling. Suffer is passive and heavier.
Opposites of struggle
For the noun, the opposite is ease or, casually, a breeze. For the verb, it is thrive, succeed or cruise when you mean doing well, and give up, yield or surrender when you mean stopping the fight.
- The test was a breeze after all that practice.
- The plant thrived once it got more light.
More nouns like this live on the nouns hub.
Frequently asked questions
Struggle sounds negative. Is there an upbeat alternative?
Challenge and effort sound positive. Journey is also used for personal stories, though it can sound soft in formal writing.
Struggling at work or school: what else can I say?
Having trouble, finding it hard and grappling with are neutral. For a business, use failing or in difficulty.
Which struggle synonym suits a formal report?
Endeavor, exertion and contend with are formal. Hardship suits the noun in reports about living conditions.
Can I use strive instead of struggle?
Only when you mean trying hard toward a goal. Strive does not suggest failure or pain, so it changes the meaning in many sentences.
What is the opposite of struggle?
Ease is the noun opposite. Thrive and succeed are the verb opposites when you mean doing well.
What word means a long, hard struggle?
Uphill battle, slog and ordeal all fit. Uphill battle suggests the odds were against you.