All hard nut to crack synonyms

noun hard nut to crack

• complexity — Complexity is the state of having many different parts connected or related to each other in a complicated way.
• complication — A complication is a problem or difficulty that makes a situation harder to deal with.
• difficulty — the fact or condition of being difficult.
• headache — a pain located in the head, as over the eyes, at the temples, or at the base of the skull.
• hot water — trouble; a predicament: His skipping classes will get him into real hot water when exam time comes.
• mess — a dirty, untidy, or disordered condition: The room was in a mess.
• predicament — an unpleasantly difficult, perplexing, or dangerous situation.
• problem — any question or matter involving doubt, uncertainty, or difficulty.
• quagmire — an area of miry or boggy ground whose surface yields under the tread; a bog.
• quandary — a state of perplexity or uncertainty, especially as to what to do; dilemma.
• snafu — a badly confused or ridiculously muddled situation: A ballot snafu in the election led to a recount. Synonyms: snarl, bedlam, tumult, disarray, disorder, confusion, mess; foul-up. Antonyms: order, efficiency, calm.
• snake pit — a mental hospital marked by squalor and inhumane or indifferent care for the patients.
• snarl — to become tangled; get into a tangle.
• trouble — to disturb the mental calm and contentment of; worry; distress; agitate.
• gordian knot — pertaining to Gordius, ancient king of Phrygia, who tied a knot (the Gordian knot) that, according to prophecy, was to be undone only by the person who was to rule Asia, and that was cut, rather than untied, by Alexander the Great.
• pandora's box — a source of extensive but unforeseen troubles or problems: The senate investigation turned out to be a Pandora's box for the administration.
• dog's breakfast — a disorderly mixture; hodgepodge.
• hornet's nest — a large amount of activity, trouble, hostility, or animosity: His investigation stirred up a hornet's nest, resulting in major shifts in personnel.