problematic.

Causing difficulties, raising doubts, or depending on questionable assumptions.

Use it for

Words that belong together

• problematic assumption
• problematic comparison

On the page

The comparison is problematic because the groups were selected differently.

Usage notes

Primary category: academic / formal. Forms: Comparative more problematic; superlative most problematic when comparison is meaningful. Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings. Established modern English lexical item. No separate regional spelling or grammatical inflection entry. Writing functions: analysis, evaluation, qualification. Commonness: moderately common.