tough
(noun, adjective, verb, interjection)
adjective
1. not given to gentleness or sentimentality
- a tough character
Similar word(s): hard, insensitive, unsentimental
2. very difficult; severely testing stamina or resolution
- the competition was tough
- it's a tough life
- it was a tough job
Similar word(s): difficult, hard, rugged
3. physically toughened
- the tough bottoms of his feet
Similar word(s): rugged, experienced, experient, strong, callous, calloused, thickened, enured, hardened, inured, toughened
4. substantially made or constructed
- a tough all-weather fabric
- some plastics are as tough as metal
Similar word(s): rugged, sturdy
5. violent and lawless
- tough street gangs
Similar word(s): violent, ruffianly
6. feeling physical discomfort or pain (`tough' is occasionally used colloquially for `bad')
- he was feeling tough after a restless night
Similar word(s): uncomfortable, bad
7. resistant to cutting or chewing
Similar word(s): inedible, uneatable, cartilaginous, gristly, rubbery, chewy, coriaceous, leathered, leatherlike, leathery, fibrous, sinewy, stringy, unchewable, hempen
8. unfortunate or hard to bear
- a tough break
9. making great mental demands; hard to comprehend or solve or believe
Similar word(s): difficult, hard, baffling, elusive, knotty, problematic, problematical
Sentences with tough as an adjective:
- The tent, made of tough canvas, held up to many abuses.
- To soften a tough cut of meat, the recipe suggested simmering it for hours.
- Only a tough species will survive in the desert.
- He had a reputation as a tough negotiator.
- A bunch of the tough boys from the wrong side of the tracks threatened him.
- This is a tough crowd.
interjection
1. (slang) Used to indicate lack of sympathy
- If you don't like it, tough!
noun
1. someone who learned to fight in the streets rather than being formally trained in the sport of boxing
Definition categories: person, battler, belligerent, combatant, fighter, scrapper
2. an aggressive and violent young criminal
Similar word(s): goon, hood, hoodlum, punk, thug, toughie
Definition categories: person, criminal, crook, felon, malefactor, outlaw
3. a cruel and brutal fellow
Similar word(s): bully, hooligan, roughneck, rowdy, ruffian, yob, yobbo, yobo
Definition categories: person, aggressor, assailant, assaulter, attacker
Sentences with tough as a noun:
- They were doing fine until they encountered a bunch of toughs from the opposition.
verb
1. To endure.
2. To toughen.