thick-skinned
Americanadjective
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having a thick skin.
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insensitive or hardened to criticism, reproach, rebuff, etc.
adjective
Etymology
Origin of thick-skinned
First recorded in 1535–45
Explanation
To be thick-skinned is to not be bothered by criticism and rejection. When you're thick-skinned, you're mentally tough. It can help you to remember the meaning of this term if you think about it literally. Someone with thick, tough, rough skin isn't going to be hurt by a little pinch or paper cut, unlike someone with thin skin. So thick-skinned people are also unaffected by less physical harms, like being criticized, rejected, or turned down. If you're thick-skinned, you don't let failure or disappointment get you down: you keep believing in yourself and moving forward.
Vocabulary lists containing thick-skinned
Idioms and Expressions, List 3
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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.
So how do the thick-skinned animals with poor eyesight pull off such delicate tasks?
From Barron's • Feb. 12, 2026
If you can be quite thick-skinned and just carry on, then yes, do it.
From BBC • Dec. 13, 2025
“You have to be thick-skinned in life. You have to support what you believe is correct and true.”
From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 19, 2025
Before seeing “The Substance,” I considered myself to be generally thick-skinned about blood and guts.
From Salon • Sep. 27, 2024
He was regarded as thick-skinned and insensitive—even cruel.
From "East of Eden" by John Steinbeck
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.
