toughie

American  

[tuhf-ee] / ˈtʌf i /

Or toughy

noun

Informal.

plural

toughies

1. a tough person, especially one who is belligerent.

   The sheriff was a local toughie with very little patience for outsiders.

2. a difficult problem or situation.

   That math test was a real toughie!

3. a harsh or blunt book, movie, etc.

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Etymology

Origin of toughie

First recorded in 1920–25; tough + -ie

Example Sentences

Cardellini: Yeah, that line was a — that was a toughie.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 15, 2023

In contrast, Mapplethorpe, who emerged in the anything-goes 1970s, explored his various identities “as a woman, as a gangster, as a devilish imp, as a toughie, as nothing special.”

From New York Times • Dec. 21, 2018

When asked about Judy Garland, he’d say, “I thought she was going to be a toughie, but she wasn’t.”

From The New Yorker • Jul. 11, 2018

The first three rounds are cagey before Junior Granados, a toughie from Mexico, serves notice of his power by buzzing Conlan in the fourth.

From BBC • Jul. 6, 2015

“I knew you were an old toughie the minute I saw you.”

From "Bud, Not Buddy" by Christopher Paul Curtis