tough
Americanadjective
-
strong and durable; not easily broken or cut.
- Antonyms:
- fragile
-
not brittle or tender.
-
difficult to masticate, as food.
a tough steak.
-
of viscous consistency, as liquid or semiliquid matter.
tough molasses.
-
capable of great endurance; sturdy; hardy.
tough troops.
- Synonyms:
- durable
-
not easily influenced, as a person; unyielding; stubborn.
a tough man to work for.
- Synonyms:
- inflexible
-
hardened; incorrigible.
a tough criminal.
-
difficult to perform, accomplish, or deal with; hard, trying, or troublesome.
a tough problem.
-
hard to bear or endure (often used ironically).
tough luck.
-
vigorous; severe; violent.
a tough struggle.
-
vicious; rough; rowdyish.
a tough character;
a tough neighborhood.
-
practical, realistic, and lacking in sentimentality; tough-minded.
-
Slang. remarkably excellent; first-rate; great.
adverb
noun
idioms
-
hang tough, hang.
-
tough it out, to endure or resist hardship or adversity.
adjective
-
strong or resilient; durable
a tough material
-
not tender
he could not eat the tough steak
-
having a great capacity for endurance; hardy and fit
a tough mountaineer
-
rough or pugnacious
a tough gangster
-
resolute or intractable
a tough employer
-
difficult or troublesome to do or deal with
a tough problem
-
informal unfortunate or unlucky
it's tough on him
noun
adverb
-
informal violently, aggressively, or intractably
to treat someone tough
-
informal to be or appear to be strong or determined
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
-
toughnessnoun
-
untoughnessnoun
-
supertoughadjective
-
toughishadjective
-
untoughadjective
-
toughlyadverb
-
untoughlyadverb
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Adjectives
Etymology
Origin of tough
First recorded before 900; Middle English (adjective); Old English tōh; compare Dutch taai, German zäh(e)
Explanation
The adjective tough is good for describing hard times. If you just got mugged, lost your job, got the flu, and broke your toe, you're having a really tough week. Tough means "strong, hard, unbending," and you can use it to describe many different things, like a tough exam, or a tough piece of beef jerky, or a tough day that you just want to be over. If a judge punishes criminals harshly to set examples, she's "tough on crime." We call people toughs if they seem likely to beat you up. Tough things are made to withstand a beating, like the tires on your mountain bike. Pronounce: TUFF.
Vocabulary lists containing tough
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:
Many believe their chances of ever buying a home are slim to none, and it can be tough for recent college graduates to break into today’s job market.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 29, 2026
Their title bid last year garnered worldwide acclaim, but building on that benchmark is a tough ask.
From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2026
But the retired Lebanese army general said it would be tough to replicate "in broader and more complex areas", particularly if Hezbollah sticks to its stance.
From Barron's ● Jul. 28, 2026
We wanted a tough energy, we wanted dragon energy in this song.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026
My paws are wrapped in some thin skin, like a tough leaf.
From "Wayward Creatures" by Dayna Lorentz
The entrepreneur, who for security reasons asked that neither he nor the specific nature of his business be identified, initially thought the calls were coming from neighborhood toughs pretending to have links to crime groups.
From Reuters ● Oct. 29, 2022
The hodgepodge of grievances brings to mind a scene from the 1953 movie “The Wild One,” about a gang of motorcycle toughs who invade a small California town.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 15, 2021
There’s nothing zany about “Harlem Shuffle,” but Whitehead has cast this novel with toughs like Chet the Vet, who flashes gold canines, and Miami Joe, who wears a high-waisted purple suit.
From Washington Post ● Sep. 13, 2021
But it quickly becomes clear that Happy owes more to the rumpled Marlowe played by Elliott Gould in Robert Altman’s “The Long Goodbye” than to any hard-boiled toughs inhabited by Humphrey Bogart.
From New York Times ● Apr. 19, 2021
The officers turned around and saw the toughs moving toward their group of six.
From "A Few Red Drops: The Chicago Race Riot of 1919" by Claire Hartfield
Despite the disruptions, the government introduced legislation in the lower house seeking tougher penalties for examination paper leaks.
From Barron's ● Jul. 27, 2026
But unlike other aspects of the administration’s education actions, the new policy has relatively broad support, with some student advocates saying it should be tougher.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 22, 2026
However, unlike in 2023 and earlier this year, it’s been tougher to quickly dislodge 5% 30-year Treasury yields once they hit, as the below chart shows.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 22, 2026
Treasury has mounted a tougher crackdown on so-called shadow fleet ships, front companies and buyers that facilitate Iran’s oil sales.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 17, 2026
There are some boys who like him because he’s so funny, but the tougher boys don’t.
From "The Night Diary" by Veera Hiranandani
They were my first audience and my toughest.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 14, 2026
And new data reveals the toughest markets where homeowners are finding it hard to sell their house.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 14, 2026
May's sanctions on brokers are the toughest measures taken by officials in years to plug loopholes that people long used to bypass capital controls.
From Barron's ● Jul. 3, 2026
As Mexico’s team prepares to take on England on Sunday night, a match that many predict will be the toughest yet for El Tri, authorities nationwide are vowing to strengthen safety protocols.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 3, 2026
He or she is a deep thinker, canny like a fox, inspirational, and in many cases the toughest person in the boat.
From "The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics" by Daniel James Brown
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.
