tough break

Idioms

Also, tough luck. A trying or troublesome circumstance, bad luck, as in He got a tough break when he was denied a raise, or Tough luck for the team last night. This idiom uses tough in the sense of “difficult,” a usage dating from the early 1600s. The variant is also used as a sarcastic interjection, as in So you didn't make straight A's—tough luck! A slangy variant of this interjection is tough beans, and a ruder version is tough shit. [Colloquial; c. 1900]

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.

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tough break

It’s a tough break for you and your siblings, if you have any.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 23, 2026

“It’s a tough break for us as a team when you see something like that, a great player, a great leader,” cornerback Patrick Surtain II said.

From Washington Times ● Jul. 31, 2023

“We knew that was a tough break that didn’t go our way. We were all kind of shocked by the decision. We were confident and determined, and the guys stayed with it.”

From Washington Post ● May 1, 2022

“This is a tough break for Josh, but given his character and work ethic, we’re fully confident Josh is going to make a full recovery and bounce back from this,” Young said.

From Seattle Times ● Feb. 23, 2022

"It's a tough break, kid, but the sooner you forget her the better."

From The Chameleon Man by William P. McGivern

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

tough break

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