Definition of "problematic"

Posing a problem; having or suffering from problem(s):

1. Difficult to overcome, solve, or decide.  quotations  examples

   Quotations

   • However, estimating what consumers will pay in the future is problematic.

     2010, The Future of Energy Use

   • The station is blessed with a cafe and staff accommodation, as it's an important crew changeover point, although this can be problematic when services are late.

     2022 November 30, Paul Bigland, “Destination Oban: a Sunday in Scotland”, in RAIL, number 971, page 79

2. Not settled, uncertain, of uncertain outcome; debatable, questionable, open to doubt.  quotations  examples

   Quotations

   • The strangeness of hiring undocumented Mexican women as domestics, many of whom were no older than fifteen, seemed strange to me. It was this strangeness that raised the topic of domestic service as a question and made problematic what had previously been taken for granted.

     1992, Mary Romero, “Intersection of Biography and History: My Intellectual Journey”, in Maid in the U.S.A., Routledge, page 1

3. (sociology) Contributing (especially if subtly) to discrimination (such as racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, or ageism).  quotations

   Quotations

   • 2015 April 10, Paige Tutt, Apple’s new diverse emoji are even more problematic than before: Racialized emoji insert race into texts and tweets where it never would have arisen before‎

(logic, dated) Only affirming the possibility that a predicate be actualised.  examples

(chiefly in the plural) A problem or difficulty in a particular field of study.  quotations  examples