tough love
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noun
a mixture of toughness and warmth used in a relationship, especially with an adolescent.
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Origin of tough love
First recorded in 1977; after Toughlove, a network of support groups
Words nearby tough love
tough break, toughen, toughie, toughish, tough it out, tough love, tough-minded, toughness, tough nut, tough pitch, tough row to hoe
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2021
Example sentences from the Web for tough love
British Dictionary definitions for tough love
tough love
noun
the practice of taking a stern attitude towards a relative or friend suffering from an addiction, etc, to help the addict overcome the problem
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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