Toughness is the quality of being hard to break or hard to beat. Mental toughness, the toughness of the material, sheer toughness.
In materials science it is precise and not the same as hardness: toughness is how much energy something absorbs before breaking, which is why glass is hard and not tough. Mental toughness is the sporting borrowing of the same idea.
1nountoughnessThe quality of being hard to break or hard to beat.
“The boxer was admired for his toughness and his refusal to give up.”
toughness is a quality.
From tough plus -ness, from Old English toh, meaning strong and not brittle.
Middle English
toughnesse
English, today
toughness
From Middle English toughnesse, towghnesse, towghenesse, equivalent to tough + -ness.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA