tough

[tuhf] /tʌf/
adjective, tougher, toughest.
1.
strong and durable; not easily broken or cut.
2.
not brittle or tender.
3.
difficult to masticate, as food:
a tough steak.
4.
of viscous consistency, as liquid or semiliquid matter:
tough molasses.
5.
capable of great endurance; sturdy; hardy:
tough troops.
6.
not easily influenced, as a person; unyielding; stubborn:
a tough man to work for.
7.
hardened; incorrigible:
a tough criminal.
8.
difficult to perform, accomplish, or deal with; hard, trying, or troublesome:
a tough problem.
9.
hard to bear or endure (often used ironically):
tough luck.
10.
vigorous; severe; violent:
a tough struggle.
11.
vicious; rough; rowdyish:
a tough character; a tough neighborhood.
12.
practical, realistic, and lacking in sentimentality; tough-minded.
13.
Slang. remarkably excellent; first-rate; great.
adverb
14.
in a tough manner.
noun
15.
a ruffian; rowdy.
Idioms
16.
hang tough, Slang. hang (def 56).
17.
tough it out, Informal. to endure or resist hardship or adversity.
Origin
before 900; Middle English (adj.); Old English tōh; compare Dutch taai, German zäh(e)
Related forms
toughly, adverb
toughness, noun
supertough, adjective
untough, adjective
untoughly, adverb
untoughness, noun
Synonyms
1. firm, hard. 5. durable. 6. inflexible.
Antonyms
1. fragile. 5. feeble, weak.
Examples from the web for tough
  • Wobbly grip makes it tough to negotiate tight corners.
  • The resulting composite is strong, tough, and yet elastic.
  • As an attractive and sturdy alternative to hardwood flooring, bamboo is tough to beat.
  • They have extremely strong jaws and wide, flat molars to chew tough vegetation such as tree bark and orchid bulbs.
  • Many of the decisions that reach the president's desk are tough calls, with strong arguments on both sides.
  • Along with hardy evergreen conifers, tough deciduous trees and shrubs form the garden's backbone.
  • The various cartilages are connected to each other and to the bones by a tough fibrous membrane.
  • Or maybe they need enhanced intelligence to extract food embedded in a tough shell or to collect termites hiding in a mound.
  • The larva pierces the spider's tough skin and sucks its blood for sustenance.
  • There have been other tough codes to crack in history.
British Dictionary definitions for tough

tough

/tʌf/
adjective
1.
strong or resilient; durable: a tough material
2.
not tender: he could not eat the tough steak
3.
having a great capacity for endurance; hardy and fit: a tough mountaineer
4.
rough or pugnacious: a tough gangster
5.
resolute or intractable: a tough employer
6.
difficult or troublesome to do or deal with: a tough problem
7.
(informal) unfortunate or unlucky: it's tough on him
noun
8.
a rough, vicious, or pugnacious person
adverb
9.
(informal) violently, aggressively, or intractably: to treat someone tough
10.
(informal) hang tough, to be or appear to be strong or determined
verb
11.
(transitive) (slang) to stand firm, hold out against (a difficulty or difficult situation) (esp in tough it out)
Derived Forms
toughish, adjective
toughly, adverb
Word Origin
Old English tōh; related to Old High German zāhi tough, Old Norse tā trodden ground in front of a house
Word Origin and History for tough
adj.

Old English toh "difficult to break or chew," from Proto-Germanic *tankhuz (cf. Middle Low German tege, Middle Dutch taey, Dutch taai, Old High German zach, German zäh). See rough for spelling change.

Figurative sense of "strenuous, difficult, hard to beat" is first recorded c.1200; that of "hard to do, trying, laborious" is from 1610s. Verb tough it "endure the experience" is first recorded 1830, American English. Tough guy first recorded 1932. Tough-minded first recorded 1907 in William James. Tough luck first recorded 1912; tough shit is from 1946.

n.

"street ruffian," 1866, American English, from tough (adj.).

Slang definitions & phrases for tough

tough

adjective
  1. Difficult; regrettable; unfortunate: That's a tough break, pardner (1883+)
  2. Physically menacing; vicious: Don't act tough with me, you little jerk (1906+)
  3. Excellent; superb; the MOST •Sometimes spelled tuff: That's a really tough set of wheels (1937+ Black)
noun

A hard and menacing person (1866+)

Related Terms

tough it out


Idioms and Phrases with tough

tough

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