tough
Of a material, strong and resilient; sturdy.
Adjective 4 meanings
Of a material, strong and resilient; sturdy.
“The tent, made of tough canvas, held up to many abuses.”
Of food, difficult to cut or chew.
“To soften a tough cut of meat, the recipe suggested simmering it for hours.”
Of a person or animal, rugged or physically hardy.
“Only a tough species will survive in the desert.”
Of a person, stubborn or persistent; capable of stubbornness or persistence.
“He had a reputation as a tough negotiator.”
Noun 1 meaning
A person who obtains things by force; a thug or bully.
“They were doing fine until they encountered a bunch of toughs from the opposition.”
Verb 2 meanings
To endure.
To toughen.
Etymology
From Middle English tough, towgh, tou, toȝ, from Old English tōh (“tough, tenacious, holding fast together; pliant; sticky, glutinous, clammy”), from Proto-West Germanic *tą̄h(ī), from Proto-Germanic *tanhuz (“fitting; clinging; tenacious; tough”), from *tinganą (“to press upon, throng”), from Proto-Indo-European *denḱ- (“to bite”).
Similar and opposite words
TOUGH at a glance
TOUGH has 5 letters and scores 9 points in Scrabble (T 1 + O 1 + U 1 + G 2 + H 4) and 10 in Words With Friends, before board bonuses. It ranks #1,731 by how often it appears in everyday English. It is valid in ENABLE, NWL2023, Collins/SOWPODS.
Rhymes with tough
All rhymes- THROUGH14
- ENOUGH10
- THOUGH13
- ALTHOUGH15
- LAUGH9
- ROUGH9
- THOROUGH15
- COUGH11
- DOUGH10
- BOROUGH13
- BREAKTHROUGH25
- TROUGH10
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