tough
/tʌf/ adjective, interjection, noun, verb, proper noun
Forms tougher toughest toughs toughing toughed tuff
- adjective Of a material, strong and resilient; sturdy. “The tent, made of tough canvas, held up to many abuses.”
- adjective Of food, difficult to cut or chew. “To soften a tough cut of meat, the recipe suggested simmering it for hours.”
- adjective (figurative) Of a person or animal, rugged or physically hardy. “Only a tough species will survive in the desert.”
- adjective (figurative) Of a person, stubborn or persistent; capable of stubbornness or persistence. “He had a reputation as a tough negotiator.”
- adjective (informal, meteorology) Of weather, harsh or severe.
- adjective (figurative) Rowdy or rough. “A bunch of the tough boys from the wrong side of the tracks threatened him.”
- adjective (slang, dated) Cool, awesome, great.
- adjective (informal, figurative) Of a question, difficult or demanding. “This is a tough crowd.”
- interjection (slang) Used to indicate lack of sympathy “If you don't like it, tough!”
- noun 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.”
- verb To endure.
- verb To toughen.
- proper noun A surname.
Synonyms
robust stout adamantine concrete firm granitic grim hard inflexible lithic resistant rigid solid stiff sturdy stony unbending unyielding unchewable hardy street fighter hood hoodlum goon punk thug toughie strong-armer bully hooligan
Antonyms
Etymology
From Middle English tough, towgh, tou, toȝ, from Old English tōh (“tough, tenacious, holding fast together; pliant; sticky, glutinous, clammy”), from Proto-West Germanic *tą̄h(ī), from Proto-Germanic *tanhuz (“fitting; clinging; tenacious; tough”), from *tinganą (“to press upon, throng”), from Proto-Indo-European *denḱ- (“to bite”).
Cognate with Saterland Frisian toai (“tough”), Bavarian zaach, zach (“tough”), Dutch taai (“tough”), German zäh, zähe (“tough”), Limburgish tiee (“tough”), Luxembourgish zéi (“tough”); also Ancient Greek δάκνω (dáknō, “to bite”), Albanian danë, darë (“tongs; pincers; pliers”), Sanskrit दशति (daśati, “to bite”).
Webster’s 1913
- adjective Having the quality of flexibility without brittleness; yielding to force without breaking; capable of resisting great strain; as, the ligaments of animals are remarkably tough. "Tough roots and stubs. " Milton.
- adjective Not easily broken; able to endure hardship; firm; strong; as, tough sinews. Cowper.
Etymology [OE. tough, AS. toh, akin to D. taai, LG. taa, tage, tau, OHG. zahi, G. zähe, and also to AS. getenge near to, close to, oppressive, OS. bitengi.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “tough”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details