get-tough
Americanadjective
Etymology
Origin of get-tough
First recorded in 1955–60
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The get-tough approach still has proponents, but critics argued that it increased the number of dropouts while providing too little benefit.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 13, 2025
Although the decline began before the latest policy changes, this get-tough approach has been cited as one of the reasons for the city's success.
From BBC ● Aug. 22, 2025
Fremont, a diverse suburb 40 miles southeast of San Francisco, last month became the latest Bay Area city to pursue the get-tough approach, adopting an ordinance that bans homeless camping on public and private property.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 6, 2025
And from 2004 to 2014, the Vatican defrocked 848 priests and sanctioned another 2,572 to lesser penalties, a get-tough approach to remove predators outright that went unmatched by Francis.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 31, 2022
Homeland Security on Wednesday announced the new policy, billing it as a get-tough crackdown on at least part of the border chaos that’s spread over the last 18 months.
From Washington Times ● Oct. 13, 2022
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
