The phrase "difficult to refrain" is correct and can be used in written English.
It means that something is hard or challenging to resist or hold back from doing. Example: It was difficult to refrain from laughing during the serious meeting.
It is easy to throw a life preserver, and it may be difficult to refrain from killing someone who is threatening one or who has treated one appallingly.
Do you find it difficult to refrain from smoking in places where it is forbidden, e.g., in church, at the library, at the cinema, etc.? (1) Yes (1 point), (2) No (0 points) 3.
Business daily Vedomosti speaks of a "premonition of civil war": "The regime that has gambled on hatred finds it difficult to refrain from escalating violence both abroad and at home... Russia will inevitably be different," says the paper's editorial.
People with poor self-control, including most drug addicts, find it difficult to refrain from pressing the key; studies show that impaired performance on the test is linked to irregularities in the brain areas involved in addiction.
It is easy to call 911, and can be difficult to refrain from killing a child at the bottom of a well if your only alternative is to continue hanging from a rope above her.
Isn't it difficult to refrain from screaming, shouting and repeating our messages over and over again?
It is difficult for me to refrain from making helicopter noises around your friends and their kids.
By Shannon Reed October 16, 2016 It is difficult for me to refrain from making helicopter noises around your friends and their kids.
It was especially difficult for them to refrain from public festivities, since parades, feasts (including free red meat), theatrical performances, and athletic competitions were all connected to pagan religious traditions.
It was very difficult for me to refrain from explaining that is how I feel and I have reproduced.
It is often difficult for adults to refrain from imposing what they think is critically important information and from presenting messages in media formats that are interesting to children.
