Tough meaning

What does “tough” mean? Definitions, examples, synonyms and opposites.

“tough” is a noun and adjective with 12 meanings. Its most common meaning is: someone who learned to fight in the streets rather than being formally trained in the sport of boxing.

tough

noun

someone who learned to fight in the streets rather than being formally trained in the sport of boxing
Synonymsstreet fighter
an aggressive and violent young criminal
Synonymshood hoodlum goon punk thug toughie strong-armer
a cruel and brutal fellow
Synonymsbully hooligan ruffian roughneck rowdy yob yobo yobbo

adjective

not given to gentleness or sentimentality
“a tough character”
Oppositestender
very difficult; severely testing stamina or resolution
“a rugged competitive examination”
“the rugged conditions of frontier life”
Synonymsrugged
physically toughened
“the tough bottoms of his feet”
Synonymstoughened
Oppositestender
substantially made or constructed
“sturdy steel shelves”
“sturdy canvas”
Synonymssturdy
violent and lawless
“the more ruffianly element”
“tough street gangs”
Synonymsruffianly
feeling physical discomfort or pain (`tough' is occasionally used colloquially for `bad')
“my throat feels bad”
“she felt bad all over”
Synonymsbad
resistant to cutting or chewing
Oppositestender
unfortunate or hard to bear
“had hard luck”
“a tough break”
Synonymshard
making great mental demands; hard to comprehend or solve or believe
“a baffling problem”
“I faced the knotty problem of what to have for breakfast”
Synonymsbaffling elusive knotty problematic problematical

Source: WordNet 3.1, Princeton University

More about “tough”

✦Synonyms for tough✦Words that rhyme with tough✦Unscramble TOUGH