problem child
English
Pronunciation
Audio (Australia): (file)
Noun
problem child (plural problem children)
- (euphemistic) A child who is particularly difficult to raise or educate, especially due to a lack of self-control and disruptive and antisocial behavior.
- 1926 March 30, “General Topic: The Problem Child”, in The Age, Australia, retrieved 11 June 2009:
- Of recent times very much has been said regarding the problem child, but as Lady Stradbroke pointed out last week but little is being done to cope with the menace that child is to itself and to the community.
- 2006 October 21, Alan Fryer, “The Children of Woodlands”, in ctv.ca, retrieved 11 June 2009:
- Hill was a problem child who was sent to Woodlands because his parents couldn't handle him at home.
- 2022, Tom Wright, “Scene Two: Classroom”, in I Ain’t Dumb (Modern Plays), London; New York, N.Y.; Dublin: Methuen Drama, →ISBN, page 12:
- An’ here I am. Your dream problem child. A facety ghetto rude gyal grateful for your remarkable lack of judgeyness, an’ ready to be dazzled and inspired by your penetrating insight.
- (idiomatic, by extension) Someone or something persistently difficult or vexing; a frequent source of trouble or annoyance.
- Antonym: problem-solver
- 2009 April 16, Theresa Vargas, “Superintendent Thinks Small in Plan to Revamp Middle Grades”, in The Washington Post[2], Washington, D.C.: The Washington Post Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 5 March 2016:
- Locally and across the nation, middle schools have generally been regarded as the problem child for school systems.
Translations
difficult child
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something difficult
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