What does it mean to be “difficile” in French?

Applied to a task, difficile is simply “hard.” Applied to a person it usually means hard to please: picky, choosy, never quite satisfied. Tu es difficile, toi ! is what you say to someone turning down every option — a restaurant, a film, a date. A child who will not eat is difficile, and ne fais pas ton difficile is “don’t be fussy about it.”

English “difficult” about a person suggests someone hard to get along with, and French keeps that reading too — difficile à vivre is exactly “hard to live with.” What French adds is the fussy sense, and in everyday conversation that is the one you meet more often. The neighbouring adjective is exigeant, demanding, which sounds serious where difficile can be teasing.