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

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tough break

This is a tough break, but it may not be as bad as you think.

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 5, 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

The 65-year-old German caught a tough break when his tee shot left on the par-4 12th left him with an awkward stance, leading to bogey.

From Seattle Times ● Nov. 11, 2022

It’s a tough break for Wolfe, who rose up the depth chart in spring and expressed hope that he had finally found the right offense for his skill set.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 13, 2022

And the tough break is the both of them lives on the same block.

From The Boy Grew Older by Heywood Broun

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

tough break

Example Sentences

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