toughadjective
uk/tʌf/us/tʌf/tough adjective (STRONG)
B2 strong; not easily broken or made weaker or defeated:
C2 strong and determined:
More examples
- I can't eat this meat - it's too tough.
- Polyurethane varnish provides a tough, scratch-resistant finish.
- We need a mayor who is tough enough to clean up this town.
- You'll need some fairly tough footwear to go walking up mountains.
- Several governments have adopted tough new anti-terrorist legislation in the wake of the attacks.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Physically strong and powerful
- (as) tough as old boots idiom
- almighty
- billy-o
- brute
- burly
- elemental
- high-octane
- industrial-strength
- invincible
- invulnerable
- muscle-flexing
- omnipotent
- reckon
- stout
- stoutly
- sturdy
- superhuman
- to be reckoned with idiom
- toughie
- unabated
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tough adjective (DIFFICULT)
B2 difficult to do or to deal with:
More examples
- It's been a tough six months and I feel I've earned a few weeks off.
- We'll have to make some tough decisions - there are no easy options.
- It's going to be a tough competition but I'm mentally prepared for it.
- This course is really tough, - sometimes I feeling like packing it all in.
- Now I'm going to ask you a really tough question - are you ready?
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Complicated and difficult to do
- advanced
- ambitious
- another
- arduous
- as much as you can do idiom
- fiddly
- fiendish
- fierce
- formidable
- get blood out of/from a stone idiom
- murky
- painstaking
- picnic
- problematic
- punishing
- rigorous
- uphill
- vexed
- wearing
- wearying
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tough adjective (FOOD)
B2 Tough food is difficult to cut or eat:
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Not pleasant to eat or drink
- (as) tough as old boots idiom
- bad
- bitter
- bitterness
- bland
- chewy
- go off
- like dishwater idiom
- mouldy
- overripe
- pappy
- pigswill
- sour
- stick
- stodgy
- swim
- tasteless
- undercook
- underdone
- unpalatable
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tough adjective (VIOLENT)
likely to be violent or to contain violence; not kind or pleasant:
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Violent or aggressive
- aggressive
- aggro
- all hell breaks loose idiom
- atrocious
- atrocity
- confrontation
- desperate
- flex your muscles idiom
- forced
- forcible
- frenzied
- gay-basher
- hostile
- running with blood idiom
- sabre-rattling
- savage
- savagely
- savagery
- steep
- steeped in blood idiom
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tough adjective (UNLUCKY)
C2 informal unlucky:
informal sometimes used to show that you have no sympathy for someone's problems or difficulties:
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Good luck and bad luck
- a blessing in disguise idiom
- bad/hard/tough luck! idiom
- be a good idiom
- be bad luck on sb idiom
- be down on your luck idiom
- blessing
- favour
- godsend
- grace
- hapless
- happenstance
- happily
- lap
- misadventure
- mischance
- misfortune
- mishap
- mixed blessing
- shame
- stroke
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C2
Idiom(s)
toughnoun [ C ]
uk/tʌf/us/tʌf/also toughie old-fashioned informala violent person:
More examples
- There are some pretty tough children in his class.
- He worked for a group of tough masters.
- His bosses were really tough.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Unpleasant people in general
- a dog in the manger idiom
- a nasty piece of work idiom
- a tough/hard nut idiom
- a wolf in sheep's clothing idiom
- bad lot
- intruder
- know-all
- know-it-all
- leech
- make sb's skin crawl idiom
- roadman
- rotter
- runt
- sadist
- scum
- undesirables
- vermin
- villain
- villain of the piece idiom
- viper
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