tough

UK/tʌf/US/tʌf/

adjectiveB15 meanings Very common — you will meet it every day · #446 of 15,258leans spoken

Other forms: tougher, toughest

Tough means hard to break, bend or chew. A tough steak you saw at for a minute and give up on; tough boots that get through a winter of building sites; the tough plastic case that saves a dropped phone.

The bigger use is difficulty: a tough exam, a tough week, a tough decision, a tough crowd. Applied to people it splits in two — tough can mean strong and not easily upset, which is praise, or strict and unwilling to bend, as in tough on crime and time to get tough with the suppliers. Said on its own, tough! means that is your problem; tough luck means the same with a shrug; and to tough it out is to keep going through something hard. Note the difference in tone: tough meat is a complaint, a tough person is a compliment.

Definitions of tough

1adjectivetoughStrong and hard to break, cut or damage.B1~2%
“The bag is made of tough canvas and will outlast the trip.”
- Said"These boots are tough; I've had them twenty years and they'll outlast me."
- WrittenThe rope was tougher than it looked, and it held the boat through the storm.
- UsedChoose a tough pan that can take a metal spoon and a hot oven.
- ContrastTough, not hard. Hard things crack when you hit them; tough things bend, take it, and stay whole. hard →
- Not thisTough meat is another meaning, difficult to chew. This tough is about lasting.
- Exchange"Will that case survive the trip?""It's tough. Fill it."
- SimplyThe bag is tough. It does not break.
Patterntough + noun (material, boots, fabric) · tough enough for · tough as old boots · toughness
synonyms: sturdy, durable
2adjectivemeatOf meat or other food: hard to cut and chew.B1~2%
“The beef was tough and nobody finished it.”
3adjectivedifficultDifficult to do, or difficult to live through.B1~44%
“It has been a tough year for the whole family.”
synonyms: hard, difficult
4adjectiveableAble to put up with hard conditions or bad news without giving in.B1~26%
“She is tougher than any of us and she runs in all weathers.”
5adjectivestrictStrict and firm in dealing with people.B2~26%
“The new manager is tough on lateness.”

Shares are an estimate: a language model read 11 sentences found in the wild and placed 11 of them on a sense — a count of our sample, not a measurement of English.

Remember it

tOUGH → said and spelt like enOUGH

Cut and cut, and it is still not enough: the meat is tough, and the knife is not doing much better.

hooks ontoenough

Phrases it lives in

tough luck — bad luck, said with little sympathy
tough it out — to keep going through a hard situation instead of giving up
as tough as old boots — very strong and hard to hurt, or very hard to chew

Where it comes from

Tough comes from Old English tōh, which meant tenacious, holding fast together, even sticky, and behind it Proto-Germanic tanhuz, clinging or tough, from a Proto-Indo-European root denḱ- meaning to bite. German zäh and Dutch taai are the same word, and so, further off, is Greek dáknō, to bite. The oldest picture is of something your teeth cannot get through.

Proto-Indo-European
*denḱ- — to bite
Proto-Germanic
*tanhuz — fitting; clinging; tenacious; tough
Proto-West Germanic
*tą̄h(ī)
Old English
tōh — tough, tenacious, holding fast together; pliant; sticky, glutinous, clammy
Middle English
tough
English, today
tough

Built from

*tinganą · Proto-Germanic — to press upon, throng

From Middle English tough, towgh, tou, toȝ, from Old English tōh (“tough, tenacious, holding fast together; pliant; sticky, glutinous, clammy”), from Proto-West Germanic tą̄h(ī), from Proto-Germanic tanhuz (“fitting; clinging; tenacious; tough”), from tinganą (“to press upon, throng”), from Proto-Indo-European denḱ- (“to bite”). 2 Cognate with stq toai (“tough”), bar zaach, zach (“tough”), Dutch taai (“tough”), German zäh, zähe (“tough”), li tiee (“tough”), lb zéi (“tough”); also Ancient Greek δάκνω (“to bite”), Albanian danë, darë (“tongs; pincers; pliers”), Sanskrit दशति (“to bite”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in In the Kitchen, Sharper Adjectives

Practise this word

tough in the wild

The Courthouse plot centered on a tough female judge, and was partially inspired by NYPD Blue and the television coverage of the O.
Courthouse (TV series)
The McNab was bred to withstand the tough conditions found in California such as heat, burrs, foxtails, and rugged terrain.
McNab dog
Fairley convinced the Army of the efficacy of the new drug atebrin, and persuaded commanders to adopt a tough approach to administering the drug to the troops.
Neil Hamilton Fairley
Despite the President's tough defeat that year, the GOP held their ground in the Senate and gained 10 seats in the House of Representatives.
Richard Bond (political executive)
The Private War of Major Benson is 1955 American military comedy film starring Charlton Heston, Julie Adams, Sal Mineo and Tim Hovey, about a tough-talking U.S.
The Private War of Major Benson

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From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

Related words

Definitions of tough

1adjectivetoughStrong and hard to break, cut or damage.B1~2%

“The bag is made of tough canvas and will outlast the trip.”

Said"These boots are tough; I've had them twenty years and they'll outlast me."
WrittenThe rope was tougher than it looked, and it held the boat through the storm.
UsedChoose a tough pan that can take a metal spoon and a hot oven.
ContrastTough, not hard. Hard things crack when you hit them; tough things bend, take it, and stay whole. hard →
Not thisTough meat is another meaning, difficult to chew. This tough is about lasting.
Exchange"Will that case survive the trip?""It's tough. Fill it."
SimplyThe bag is tough. It does not break.

Patterntough + noun (material, boots, fabric) · tough enough for · tough as old boots · toughness

synonyms: sturdy, durable

2adjectivemeatOf meat or other food: hard to cut and chew.B1~2%

“The beef was tough and nobody finished it.”

3adjectivedifficultDifficult to do, or difficult to live through.B1~44%

“It has been a tough year for the whole family.”

synonyms: hard, difficult

4adjectiveableAble to put up with hard conditions or bad news without giving in.B1~26%

“She is tougher than any of us and she runs in all weathers.”

5adjectivestrictStrict and firm in dealing with people.B2~26%

“The new manager is tough on lateness.”

Shares are an estimate: a language model read 11 sentences found in the wild and placed 11 of them on a sense — a count of our sample, not a measurement of English.