Pronunciation Adjective tough (comparative tougher, superlative toughest)
- (of a material) Strong and resilient; sturdy.
- The tent, made of tough canvas, held up to many abuses.
- (of food) Difficult to cut or chew.
- To soften a tough cut of meat, the recipe suggested simmering it for hours.
- (of a person or animal) Rugged or physically hardy.
- Only a tough species will survive in the desert.
- (of a person) Stubborn or persistent; capable of stubbornness or persistence.
- He had a reputation as a tough negotiator.
- (of weather, etc.) Harsh or severe.
- Rowdy or rough.
- A bunch of the tough boys from the wrong side of the tracks threatened him.
- (of questions, etc.) Difficult or demanding.
- This is a tough crowd.
- 1998, Lois Liederman Davitz, Joel Robert Davitz, 20 Tough Questions Teenagers Ask and 20 Tough Answers, Paulist Press, pages 6-7 ↗,
- But let's get back to the tough question about sex before marriage. And this is a tough question. In fact we would rank the question you've both raised as pretty high on our list of tough questions.
- 2010, Rushworth M. Kidder, Good Kids, Tough Choices, Wiley (Jossey-Bass), page 96 ↗,
- What Lara faced, in fact, falls right into the pool of light beneath our second lens: making tough choices.
- (material science) Undergoing plastic deformation before breaking.
- Strict, not lenient.
- tough on crime
Translations Translations Translations Translations Translations Translations Interjection - (slang) Used to indicate lack of sympathy
- If you don't like it, tough!
Translations - German: Pech, Pech gehabt
- Spanish: ni modo
Noun tough (plural toughs)
- A person who obtains things by force; a thug or bully.
- They were doing fine until they encountered a bunch of toughs from the opposition.
Translations Verb tough (toughs, present participle toughing; simple past and past participle toughed)
- To endure.
- To toughen.
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