tough love

American

noun

a mixture of toughness and warmth used in a relationship, especially with an adolescent.

tough love British

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 Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of tough love

First recorded in 1977; after Toughlove, a network of support groups

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.

See Examples For:

tough love

“I wanted to go to UC Davis for veterinary school, and my dad, with his tough love, said, ‘I don’t want you to be far.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 4, 2026

More and more young people talk about feeling burnt out, question the point of staying in the rat race and, in some cases, feel bruised by their parents' tough love.

From BBC ● Jun. 13, 2026

But the former Celtic boss was not shy in giving his star man tough love.

From BBC ● Jun. 11, 2026

And now for the tough love: You have reached the point where the question is no longer whether you’re saving enough.

From MarketWatch ● May 14, 2026

But it doesn’t always work, because you’re giving the kid tough love when maybe he just needs love.

From "Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood" by Trevor Noah

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