tough love
- a mixture of toughness and warmth used in a relationship, especially with an adolescent.
Show More
Origin of tough love
First recorded in 1977; after Toughlove, a network of support groups
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for tough love
Contemporary Examples
She maintains the tough-love attitude of a pioneer, when it comes to her protégés.
But they see themselves as something of a tough-love organization.
tough love
- the practice of taking a stern attitude towards a relative or friend suffering from an addiction, etc, to help the addict overcome the problem
Show More
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012