 4 definitions found
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
tough
adjective
1: not given to gentleness or sentimentality; "a tough
character" [ant: {tender}]
2: 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}]
3: physically toughened; "the tough bottoms of his feet" [syn:
{toughened}] [ant: {tender}]
4: substantially made or constructed; "sturdy steel shelves";
"sturdy canvas"; "a tough all-weather fabric"; "some
plastics are as tough as metal" [syn: {sturdy}]
5: violent and lawless; "the more ruffianly element"; "tough
street gangs" [syn: {ruffianly}]
6: 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}]
7: tough to cut or chew [ant: {tender}]
8: unfortunate or hard to bear; "had hard luck"; "a tough
break" [syn: {hard}]
noun
1: someone who learned to fight in the streets rather than
being formally trained in the sport of boxing [syn: {street
fighter}]
2: an aggressive and violent young criminal [syn: {hood}, {hoodlum},
{goon}, {punk}, {thug}, {toughie}, {strong-armer}]
3: a cruel and brutal fellow [syn: {bully}, {hooligan}, {ruffian},
{roughneck}, {rowdy}, {yob}, {yobo}, {yobbo}]
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Tough \Tough\, adjective [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.
2. Not easily broken; able to endure hardship; firm; strong;
-- of objects and people; as, tough sinews. --Cowper.
A body made of brass, the crone demands, . . .
Tough to the last, and with no toil to tire.
--Dryden.
The basis of his character was caution combined with
tough tenacity of purpose. --J. A.
Symonds.
3. Not easily separated; viscous; clammy; tenacious; as,
tough phlegm.
4. Stiff; rigid; not flexible; stubborn; as, a tough bow.
So tough a frame she could not bend. --Dryden.
5. Severe; violent; as, a tough storm. [Colloq.] '' A tough
debate. '' --Fuller.
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.
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
tough \tough\, noun
A person who is tough[7]; a ruffian; a thug; as, a cluster of
neighborhood toughs hanging out on the corner.
[PJC]
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
501 Moby Thesaurus words for "tough":
Antaeus, Atlas, Briareus, Brobdingnagian, Charles Atlas, Cyclops,
Goliath, Herculean, Hercules, Mafioso, OK, Polyphemus, Samson,
Spartan, Spartanic, Superman, Tarzan, Titan, Young Turk, abiding,
abstruse, ace-high, acute, adamant, adamantine, adherent, adhesive,
age-long, aged, amylaceous, ancient, antique, arbitrary, arduous,
astringent, athletic, 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, bruiser,
brutal, brute, bulky, bulldogged, bulldoggish, bulldoggy,
bullheaded, bully, bullyboy, burdensome, burly, but good, callous,
cartilaginous, cement, cemental, 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, 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, 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, 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,
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, 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,
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, 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, 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,
swashbuckler, swell, sword, swordplayer, swordsman, syrupy, tacky,
taut, taxing, tenacious, termagant, terror, terrorist, the mighty,
the strong, thick, thickened, thorny, thug, ticklish, tiger,
tigress, tilter, 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,
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