vastly harder

USAGE SUMMARY

The phrase "vastly harder" is correct and usable in written English.
It can be used to emphasize that something is significantly more difficult than another thing. Example: "The new project is vastly harder than the previous one, requiring more time and resources to complete."

✓ Grammatically correct

News & Media

Human-verified examples from authoritative sources

Exact Expressions

11 human-written examples

Speech recognition is vastly harder than optical-character recognition.

The Economist

Good nonsense is vastly harder than good tragedy, and Lear's is as good as it gets.

The New York Times

It's easy to look busy on environmental issues; making real, intelligent, unpopular changes is vastly harder.

The New Yorker

This makes it vastly harder for organisms to lay down a calcareous skeleton.

The Guardian

It is harder to intervene than not to, but it is vastly harder to choose to do either than to retreat into the scrolling names of one's contact list, or whatever one's favorite iDistraction happens to be.

The New York Times

But as Dr. Brooks points out, training a robot to do it is a vastly harder problem for artificial intelligence researchers than I.B.M.'s celebrated victory on "Jeopardy!" this year with a robot named Watson.

The New York Times - Science

Human-verified similar examples from authoritative sources

Similar Expressions

49 human-written examples

There were no striking differences between the platforms of the two parties, making the vastly uneven results hard to explain.

The New York Times

By now the individual songs on my hard drive vastly outnumbered those on the CDs I owned.

The Guardian - Music

However, it requires employers to hire workers via state employment agencies that charge (and keep) hard currency, vastly inflating the cost of labour.

The Economist

Even if they do drop in performance over time — undercutting a manufacturer's claims — consumer flash drives are still vastly faster than traditional hard drives, because they can perform two to five times the input/ouput operations (I/Os) per second of a hard drive, he said.

TechCrunch

Even were the entire country able to conduct a "re-vote" of the election, it's hard to imagine vastly different results.

The New York Times

Expert writing Tips

Best practice

To enhance clarity, follow "vastly harder" with a 'than' clause specifying what it is harder than. For example: "Solving this problem is vastly harder than solving the previous one."

Common error

Avoid overuse of intensifiers like "vastly". While it adds emphasis, excessive use can weaken your writing. Use it judiciously for maximum impact.

Linguistic Context

The phrase "vastly harder" functions as a comparative intensifier, emphasizing that something is significantly more difficult than something else. Ludwig AI confirms that this phrase is correct and usable in written English.

Expression frequency: Common

Frequent in

News & Media

75%

Science

10%

Encyclopedias

5%

Less common in

Formal & Business

0%

Wiki

0%

Reference

0%

Ludwig's WRAP-UP

The phrase "vastly harder" is a grammatically sound and frequently used expression to convey a significant difference in difficulty. As Ludwig confirms, it serves to emphasize that something is considerably more challenging than something else. It's most commonly found in News & Media, and less often in more specialized contexts like Encyclopedias. Using it judiciously can add impact to your writing, but be mindful of overuse. Alternatives like "significantly more challenging" or "considerably more difficult" can provide variety. Keep in mind that the function of the phrase is to strongly contrast two scenarios and emphasize the difficulty of one of them.

More alternative expressions

Phrases that express similar concepts, ordered by semantic similarity:

significantly more challenging

Replaces "vastly harder" with synonyms, emphasizing the challenge aspect.

considerably more difficult

Uses "considerably" instead of "vastly", offering a similar degree of emphasis.

substantially more complex

Shifts the focus to complexity rather than pure difficulty.

markedly more strenuous

Emphasizes the effort required, using "strenuous" as a synonym for hard.

much more arduous

Uses "arduous" to highlight the laboriousness of the task.

appreciably tougher

Uses "tougher" as a synonym for "harder" and "appreciably" for "vastly".

noticeably more demanding

Emphasizes the increased demands of the task.

distinctly more complicated

Similar to "substantially more complex", focusing on the complicated nature.

decidedly more taxing

Uses "taxing" to emphasize the draining effect of the difficulty.

infinitely more problematic

Highlights the problematic nature of something being "vastly harder".

FAQs

How can I use "vastly harder" in a sentence?

You can use "vastly harder" to compare the difficulty of two tasks, emphasizing that one is significantly more challenging than the other. For example, "Learning a new language is "vastly harder" than learning a new sport".

What are some alternatives to "vastly harder"?

Some alternatives include "significantly more challenging", "considerably more difficult", or "substantially more complex", depending on the specific context.

Is it grammatically correct to say "vastly harder"?

Yes, "vastly harder" is grammatically correct. "Vastly" is an adverb that modifies the adjective "harder", indicating a significant degree of difficulty.

What is the difference between "harder" and "vastly harder"?

"Harder" indicates a comparative degree of difficulty, while "vastly harder" emphasizes that the difference in difficulty is substantial and significant.