problem child

problem child

1. A child who is prone to wild or disobedient behavior. I know it's hard to believe now that he's a successful lawyer, but Timmy was a total problem child and constantly got into trouble! Debbie just keeps misbehaving no matter what we do—do you have any suggestions for dealing with a problem child?
2. One aspect of a company that is not performing as well as others. At this point, our retail store has become such a problem child that management is probably going to close it down before it bankrupts us.
3. A product that requires a lot of attention and funding in order to be successful. I know you all see this book as a problem child, but I really do think that it can a bestseller with the right marketing approach.
See also: child, problem
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.
See also:
  • boomerang child
  • love child
  • babysit for
  • babysit for (someone)
  • expecting a child
  • army brat
  • child
  • little horror
  • children
  • bonus child
References in periodicals archive
hooks is the "problem child." She shares with us the pain of her difference, the willful sense of self that drives her to rebel against the people she would like so much to please.
Common sense tells us it's experienced teachers who should deal with the problem child. Experienced teachers know what will and won't work in their approach to the child.
It's all stone walls and timber frames around a central bar where my favourite beer was Problem Child's pine resin-spicy Rascal.
I know I will take some flack for this, but GM is the biggest problem child of them all.
The producer comes to Disney from Universal, where he has been headquartered since 1998 when he produced his first comedy, "Problem Child." Disney was among several studios vying for Simonds.
The entire staff waved goodbye not to a problem child, but one that needed a lot of extra love and attention.
We can become comfortable once again in our satisfaction that we are providing a safe and secure environment, but remember today's problem child poses far greater challenges than in the past, thanks to miniaturization.
They continue to disown the first album like a problem child, leaning instead on tracks from their two follow-ups.
A teacher gets into hot water with colleagues after one of them hits a problem child. Two teenage girls put themselves in harm's way after getting drunk.
"My mum came from nothing, I was a problem child and she brought me up by herself.
On April 12 The Western Mail carried an article headed "Coercion will not be enough" which dealt with a problem child in Cardiff.
In "Problem Child" a husband and wife await a social worker to learn whether they'll regain custody of their child.
IT APPEARS, rather surprisingly, that the problem child, or vandal, is often the product of council house suburbia, where every social amenity and recreation facility has been spoon fed by the local authority.
The family were poor and Claire's mother was cruel, violent and abusive to her "problem child".
A FORMER problem child who changed her life has been named Young Citizen of the Year by Merseyside police.