✅ Demanding describes something that requires a lot of effort and attention, especially something taxing or draining (The work was very demanding).

✅ Challenging describes something that is difficult, and really tests your abilities (The jigsaw puzzle was particularly challenging).

✅ Challenging is a more positive word, implying that you’re finding the difficulty stimulating. Demanding is more negative, implying that the difficulty is exhausting.

✅ You can use demanding as a positive on your résumé to show that you deal well with stress, and can rise to any occasion (I thrive in a demanding environment). However, you’d still use challenging if you want to emphasize finding difficult problems interesting and exciting (I like solving challenging problems).

Check out the rest of these challenging synonyms!

✅ Relief refers to something that stops or alleviates stress, anxiety, or monotony. It also refers to the sense of freedom from negative feelings, either caused by something happening, or by something stopping (It was a relief to finally get home; The cool breeze was a relief after the hot day).

✅ Relaxation refers to rest after hard work; it can also refer to the form of rest that you particularly like (He went to the spa for some relaxation; Her relaxation was cowboy films).

✅ Relaxation refers to specific positive sensations of rest and leisure, whereas relief focuses more on the absence of negative feelings than the presence of positive ones.

✅ Relief can also suggest a more passing feeling than relaxation. Relaxation might be obtained by the luxury of a beach vacation, whereas relief might be experienced by simply sitting down after a long day on your feet.

Describe your favorite method of relaxation with the help of Grammar Coach.

✅ Manage refers to being in control of or guiding something, especially a group of people, a business, or the like (I knew I could manage the estate).

✅ Supervise refers to overseeing something, such as a group of people, a project, or similar (I was told to supervise the group project).

✅ Supervise can be used in a variety of circumstances, but you’ll usually see manage used in the context of a workplace (I supervised the Girl Scout group when we went on a trip; I managed twenty employees).

✅ In the context of a workplace, manage can suggest a more hands-off approach than supervise. Supervise tends to be more specific and evocative than manage.

With the help of Grammar Coach, write about a time you had to supervise someone. It could come in handy in a job interview!