tough
1. a cruel and brutal fellow
• Syn:
bully, hooligan, ruffian, roughneck, rowdy,
yob, yobo, yobbo
• Derivationally related forms:
ruffianly (for: ruffian), bully (for: bully)
• Hypernyms:
attacker, aggressor, assailant, assaulter
• Hyponyms:
bullyboy, muscleman, muscle, skinhead, tough guy, plug-ugly
2. an aggressive and violent young criminal
• Syn:
hood, hoodlum, goon, punk, thug,
toughie, strong-armer
• Derivationally related forms:
strong-arm (for: strong-armer)
• Hypernyms:
criminal, felon, crook, outlaw, malefactor
• Hyponyms:
bully
3. someone who learned to fight in the streets rather than being formally trained in the sport of boxing
• Syn:
street fighter
• Hypernyms:
combatant, battler, belligerent, fighter, scrapper
1. not given to gentleness or sentimentality (Freq. 9)
- a tough character
• Ant:
tender
• Similar to:
hard-bitten, hard-boiled, pugnacious, tough-minded, unsentimental
• See Also:
hard, insensitive
2. very difficult;
severely testing stamina or resolution (Freq. 5)
- 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
• Similar to:
difficult, hard
• Derivationally related forms:
toughness, ruggedness (for: rugged)
3. physically toughened (Freq. 2)
- the tough bottoms of his feet
• Syn:
toughened
• Ant:
tender
• Similar to:
calloused, callous, thickened, enured, inured,
hardened, weather-beaten
• See Also:
experienced, experient, rugged, strong
4. substantially made or constructed (Freq. 2)
- sturdy steel shelves
- sturdy canvas
- a tough all-weather fabric
- some plastics are as tough as metal
• Syn:
sturdy
• Similar to:
rugged
• Derivationally related forms:
sturdiness (for: sturdy)
5. feeling physical discomfort or pain ('tough' is occasionally used colloquially for 'bad') (Freq. 1)
- my throat feels bad
- she felt bad all over
- he was feeling tough after a restless night
• Syn:
bad
• Similar to:
uncomfortable
• Derivationally related forms:
badness (for: bad)
• Usage Domain:
colloquialism
6. violent and lawless (Freq. 1)
- the more ruffianly element
- tough street gangs
• Syn:
ruffianly
• Similar to:
violent
• Derivationally related forms:
ruffian (for: ruffianly)
7. resistant to cutting or chewing
• Ant:
tender
• Similar to:
cartilaginous, gristly, rubbery, chewy, coriaceous,
leathered, leatherlike, leathery, fibrous, sinewy, stringy,
unchewable, hempen, tough-skinned
• See Also:
inedible, uneatable
• Derivationally related forms:
toughness
8. unfortunate or hard to bear
- had hard luck
- a tough break
• Syn:
hard
• Similar to:
bad
• Derivationally related forms:
hardness (for: hard)
9. 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
• Similar to:
difficult, hard
• Derivationally related forms:
toughness, problem (for: problematical), problem (for: problematic), knottiness (for: knotty)
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