'Tough' definitions:
Definition of 'tough'
(from WordNet)
adjective
Not given to gentleness or sentimentality; "a tough character" [ant: tender]
adjective
Very difficult; severely testing stamina or resolution; "a rugged competitive examination"; "the rugged conditions of frontier life"; "the competition was tough"; "it's a tough life"; "it was a tough job" [syn: rugged, tough]
adjective
Physically toughened; "the tough bottoms of his feet" [syn: tough, toughened] [ant: tender, untoughened]
adjective
Substantially made or constructed; "sturdy steel shelves"; "sturdy canvas"; "a tough all-weather fabric"; "some plastics are as tough as metal" [syn: sturdy, tough]
adjective
Violent and lawless; "the more ruffianly element"; "tough street gangs" [syn: ruffianly, tough]
adjective
Feeling physical discomfort or pain (`tough' is occasionally used colloquially for `bad'); "my throat feels bad"; "she felt bad all over"; "he was feeling tough after a restless night" [syn: bad, tough]
adjective
Resistant to cutting or chewing [ant: tender]
adjective
Unfortunate or hard to bear; "had hard luck"; "a tough break" [syn: hard, tough]
adjective
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"; "a problematic situation at home" [syn: baffling, elusive, knotty, problematic, problematical, tough]
noun
Someone who learned to fight in the streets rather than being formally trained in the sport of boxing [syn: street fighter, tough]
noun
An aggressive and violent young criminal [syn: hood, hoodlum, goon, punk, thug, tough, toughie, strong-armer]
noun
Definition of 'Tough'
From: GCIDE
- Tough \Tough\, a. [Compar. Tougher; superl. Toughest.] [OE. tough, AS. t[=o]h, akin to D. taai, LG. taa, tage, tau, OHG. z[=a]hi, G. z[aum]he, and also to AS. getenge near to, close to, oppressive, OS. bitengi.]
- 1. Having the quality of flexibility without brittleness; yielding to force without breaking; capable of resisting great strain; as, the ligaments of animals are remarkably tough. "Tough roots and stubs. " --Milton. [1913 Webster]
- 2. Not easily broken; able to endure hardship; firm; strong; -- of objects and people; as, tough sinews. --Cowper. [1913 Webster]
- A body made of brass, the crone demands, . . . Tough to the last, and with no toil to tire. --Dryden. [1913 Webster]
- The basis of his character was caution combined with tough tenacity of purpose. --J. A. Symonds. [1913 Webster]
- 3. Not easily separated; viscous; clammy; tenacious; as, tough phlegm. [1913 Webster]
- 4. Stiff; rigid; not flexible; stubborn; as, a tough bow. [1913 Webster]
- So tough a frame she could not bend. --Dryden. [1913 Webster]
- 5. Severe; violent; as, a tough storm. [Colloq.] " A tough debate. " --Fuller. [1913 Webster]
- 6. Difficult to do, perform, or accomplish; as, a tough job. [PJC]
- 7. Prone to aggressive or violent behavior; rowdyish; -- of people, or groups; as, a tough neighborhood; a tough character. [PJC]
- To make it tough, to make it a matter of difficulty; to make it a hard matter. [Obs.] --Chaucer. [1913 Webster]
Definition of 'tough'
From: GCIDE
- tough \tough\, n. A person who is tough[7]; a ruffian; a thug; as, a cluster of neighborhood toughs hanging out on the corner. [PJC]
Synonyms of 'tough'
From: Moby Thesaurus
- abiding,
- abstruse,
- ace-high,
- acute,
- adamant,
- adamantine,
- adherent,
- adhesive,
- age-long,
- aged,
- amylaceous,
- ancient,
- Antaeus,
- antique,
- arbitrary,
- arduous,
- astringent,
- athletic,
- Atlas,
- austere,
- authoritarian,
- backbreaking,
- bad,
- baffling,
- bang-up,
- battler,
- beast,
- beldam,
- belligerent,
- belted knight,
- berserk,
- berserker,
- beyond one,
- bickerer,
- blade,
- bomber,
- bony,
- bonzer,
- boss,
- bravo,
- brawler,
- brawny,
- Briareus,
- Brobdingnagian,
- bruiser,
- brutal,
- brute,
- bulky,
- bulldogged,
- bulldoggish,
- bulldoggy,
- bullheaded,
- bully,
- bullyboy,
- burdensome,
- burly,
- but good,
- callous,
- cartilaginous,
- cement,
- cemental,
- Charles Atlas,
- chewy,
- chronic,
- clabbered,
- clammy,
- clingy,
- clotted,
- coagulated,
- cohesive,
- cold,
- colossus,
- combatant,
- competitor,
- complex,
- complicated,
- concrete,
- confirmed,
- constant,
- contender,
- contestant,
- continuing,
- cool,
- coriaceous,
- corking,
- corneous,
- crabbed,
- crackerjack,
- cramp,
- critical,
- crushing,
- curdled,
- cutting,
- Cyclops,
- dandy,
- delicate,
- delicious,
- demanding,
- demon,
- dense,
- devil,
- diamondlike,
- difficile,
- difficult,
- disputant,
- diuturnal,
- doughty,
- doughy,
- dour,
- dragon,
- drastic,
- ducky,
- duelist,
- durable,
- dure,
- effortful,
- enduring,
- enforcer,
- evergreen,
- exacting,
- excessive,
- exigent,
- exorbitant,
- extravagant,
- extreme,
- fab,
- fencer,
- feuder,
- fibrous,
- fiend,
- fierce,
- fighter,
- fighting cock,
- fine and dandy,
- fire-eater,
- firebrand,
- firm,
- fixed,
- flintlike,
- flinty,
- foilsman,
- forced,
- formidable,
- furious,
- fury,
- game,
- gamecock,
- gamy,
- garbled,
- gaumy,
- gear,
- gelatinous,
- giant,
- gladiator,
- glairy,
- gluelike,
- gluey,
- glutenous,
- glutinose,
- glutinous,
- Goliath,
- gooey,
- goon,
- gorilla,
- granitelike,
- granitic,
- great,
- grim,
- gristly,
- gritty,
- groovy,
- grueling,
- grumous,
- gumbo,
- gumbolike,
- gumlike,
- gummous,
- gummy,
- gun,
- gunsel,
- gutsy,
- gutty,
- hairy,
- hard,
- hard as nails,
- hard to understand,
- hard-bitten,
- hard-boiled,
- hard-earned,
- hard-fought,
- hard-line,
- hard-nosed,
- hard-set,
- hardened,
- hardhearted,
- hardnose,
- hardy,
- harsh,
- hatchet man,
- heavy,
- hefty,
- hell-raiser,
- hellcat,
- hellhound,
- hellion,
- Herculean,
- Hercules,
- holy terror,
- hood,
- hoodlum,
- hooligan,
- horny,
- hot,
- hothead,
- hotspur,
- hunky-dory,
- icy,
- immoderate,
- immutable,
- incendiary,
- inflexible,
- inspissated,
- intemperate,
- intense,
- intractable,
- intransient,
- intrepid,
- intricate,
- inured,
- inveterate,
- irksome,
- iron-hard,
- ironlike,
- jam-up,
- jawbreaking,
- jelled,
- jellied,
- jellylike,
- jouster,
- jumbled,
- just dandy,
- keen,
- killer,
- killing,
- knight,
- knotted,
- knotty,
- labored,
- laborious,
- lapideous,
- lasting,
- leatherlike,
- leathery,
- lithoid,
- lithoidal,
- long-lasting,
- long-lived,
- long-standing,
- long-term,
- longeval,
- longevous,
- macrobiotic,
- mad dog,
- madcap,
- Mafioso,
- manly,
- marble,
- marblelike,
- marvy,
- massive,
- mean,
- meticulous,
- mettlesome,
- militant,
- monster,
- mucilaginous,
- mucker,
- mug,
- mugger,
- muscle man,
- muscular,
- mystifying,
- narrow,
- neat,
- nervy,
- nifty,
- no picnic,
- nobby,
- not easy,
- obdurate,
- obfuscated,
- obscure,
- obscured,
- obstinate,
- of long duration,
- of long standing,
- OK,
- okay,
- onerous,
- operose,
- oppressive,
- osseous,
- out of sight,
- outrageous,
- overtechnical,
- painful,
- pasty,
- peachy,
- peachy-keen,
- perdurable,
- perduring,
- perennial,
- permanent,
- perpetual,
- perplexed,
- perplexing,
- persistent,
- persisting,
- pertinacious,
- piercing,
- plucky,
- plug-ugly,
- Polyphemus,
- powerful,
- powerhouse,
- procrustean,
- punishing,
- punk,
- puzzling,
- quarreler,
- rapist,
- red-blooded,
- refractory,
- remaining,
- resistant,
- resistive,
- resolute,
- revolutionary,
- rigid,
- rigorous,
- rioter,
- ripping,
- rival,
- rocklike,
- rocky,
- rodman,
- ropy,
- rough,
- roughneck,
- rowdy,
- ruffian,
- rugged,
- rum,
- sabreur,
- Samson,
- savage,
- scrambled,
- scrapper,
- scrumptious,
- scuffler,
- self-adhesive,
- sempervirent,
- set with thorns,
- severe,
- sharp,
- she-wolf,
- sinewy,
- slabby,
- slap-up,
- slimy,
- slithery,
- smashing,
- solid,
- something else,
- sound,
- Spartan,
- Spartanic,
- spiffing,
- spiffy,
- spiny,
- spirited,
- spiritful,
- spitfire,
- splitting,
- spunky,
- squabbler,
- stable,
- stalwart,
- starchy,
- staying,
- steadfast,
- steady,
- steellike,
- steely,
- steep,
- stern,
- stickable,
- sticky,
- stiff,
- stodgy,
- stonelike,
- stony,
- stout,
- strained,
- strapping,
- strenuous,
- strict,
- stringent,
- stringy,
- strong,
- strong arm,
- strong man,
- strong-arm man,
- strong-armer,
- struggler,
- stubborn,
- stunning,
- sturdy,
- substantial,
- Superman,
- swashbuckler,
- swell,
- sword,
- swordplayer,
- swordsman,
- syrupy,
- tacky,
- Tarzan,
- taut,
- taxing,
- tenacious,
- termagant,
- terror,
- terrorist,
- the mighty,
- the strong,
- thick,
- thickened,
- thorny,
- thug,
- ticklish,
- tiger,
- tigress,
- tilter,
- Titan,
- toilsome,
- torpedo,
- tough as leather,
- tough guy,
- tower of strength,
- tremelloid,
- tremellose,
- tricky,
- trigger man,
- troublesome,
- tussler,
- ugly customer,
- unalterable,
- unbending,
- unbreakable,
- uncaring,
- uncompromising,
- unconscionable,
- underprivileged,
- unfading,
- unfeeling,
- ungiving,
- unsentimental,
- unsparing,
- unsympathetic,
- untiring,
- unyielding,
- uphill,
- vehement,
- venomous,
- vigorous,
- violent,
- virago,
- virile,
- virulent,
- viscid,
- viscose,
- viscous,
- vital,
- vixen,
- wearisome,
- well-built,
- well-constructed,
- well-founded,
- well-grounded,
- well-made,
- wicked,
- wild beast,
- wiry,
- witch,
- withstanding,
- wizard,
- wolf,
- wrangler,
- yahoo,
- Young Turk