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tough

/tʌf/noun, adjective1 syllable

Tough means: resistant to cutting or chewing.

Synonyms for tough62

noun, as in a cruel and brutal fellow

bully, hooligan, ruffian, roughneck, rowdy, yob, yobo, yobbo

noun, as in an aggressive and violent young criminal

hood, hoodlum, goon, punk, thug, toughie, strong-armer

noun, as in someone who learned to fight in the streets rather than being formally trained in the sport of boxing

street fighter

adjective, as in resistant to cutting or chewing

cartilaginous, gristly, rubbery, chewy, coriaceous, leathered, leatherlike, leathery, fibrous, sinewy, stringy, unchewable, hempen, tough-skinned, inedible, uneatable

adjective, as in physically toughened

toughened, calloused, callous, thickened, enured, inured, hardened, weather-beaten, experienced, experient, rugged, strong

adjective, as in not given to gentleness or sentimentality

hard-bitten, hard-boiled, pugnacious, tough-minded, unsentimental, hard, insensitive

adjective, as in making great mental demands; hard to comprehend or solve or believe

baffling, elusive, knotty, problematic, problematical, difficult, hard

adjective, as in very difficult; severely testing stamina or resolution

rugged, difficult, hard

adjective, as in substantially made or constructed

sturdy, rugged

adjective, as in violent and lawless

ruffianly, violent

adjective, as in feeling physical discomfort or pain (‘tough’ is occasionally used colloquially for ‘bad’)

bad, uncomfortable

adjective, as in unfortunate or hard to bear

hard, bad

Opposites of tough

tender

What does tough mean?12

adjective

1

resistant to cutting or chewing

2

physically toughened“the tough bottoms of his feet”

3

not given to gentleness or sentimentality“a tough character”

4

making great mental demands; hard to comprehend or solve or believe“a baffling problem”

5

very difficult; severely testing stamina or resolution“a rugged competitive examination”

6

substantially made or constructed“sturdy steel shelves”

7

violent and lawless“the more ruffianly element”

8

feeling physical discomfort or pain (‘tough’ is occasionally used colloquially for ‘bad’)“my throat feels bad”

9

unfortunate or hard to bear“had hard luck”

noun

1

a cruel and brutal fellow

2

an aggressive and violent young criminal

3

someone who learned to fight in the streets rather than being formally trained in the sport of boxing

Definitions from the Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

What rhymes with tough?13

one syllable

stuffroughbuffbluffpuffcuffdufffluffsnuffhuffsloughruff

two syllables

enough
Show 40 near rhymes
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Tough in a sentence

  • To begin with, that kind of work is too tough for me.CK
  • Leadership calls for tough choices and, at times, tough language.patgfisher
  • Oh, so you think you're a tough guy, huh?mailohilohi
  • She looks sweet and innocent, but underneath the surface she’s a tough broad.Tangobango
  • When times are tough, you find out who your friends are.CK
  • When the going gets tough, the tough get going.Dejo
  • I think that, in tough times, you can cry as much as you want.unknown
  • Horus has a tough job, searching through millions of sentences to find duplicates.espamatics

Sentences from Tatoeba, CC BY 2.0 FR, credited to their authors.

Forms of tough

as a noun

plural
toughs

as a adjective

comparative
tougher
superlative
toughest