tough cookie

nounC1Not compared — the two pools are counted one word at a time, so a phrase has no score

A tough cookie is a person who is not easily hurt or beaten. She is a tough cookie.

It is affectionate and American, and it is used of women rather more than men. The praise is for resilience rather than for strength.

Definitions of tough cookie

1nountough cookieA person who is not easily hurt or beaten.C1
“Anybody who nursed through that year is a tough cookie.”

tough cookie is a person.

Practised in Idioms