tough
/tʌf/
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
Adjective:
- Difficult to cut, chew, or break; strong and resilient: Describes a material or substance that is not easily damaged.
- Able to endure hardship or strain; resilient: Describes a person who is strong and determined.
- Very difficult to do or deal with; demanding: Describes a situation, task, or problem that is challenging.
- Strict and not easily moved; harsh or severe: Describes a person, attitude, or policy that is firm and uncompromising.
- Rough or violent; involving disorder or crime: Describes an area, person, or behavior that is characterized by roughness or lawlessness.
Noun:
- A rough and violent person; a thug: Refers to a person, especially a man, who is aggressive and often involved in crime.
Examples of Usage
Adjective:
- The steak was too tough to eat. (Describing a physical property.)
- She is a tough competitor who never gives up. (Describing a resilient person.)
- It was a tough decision to make. (Describing a difficult choice.)
- The coach has a tough approach to training. (Describing a strict attitude.)
- He grew up in a tough neighborhood. (Describing a rough area.)
Noun:
- A gang of toughs was causing trouble on the street.
Advanced Usage
- "to be/get tough on someone/something": to treat someone or something in a very strict or severe way.
- The government is getting tough on crime.
- "to be tough going": to be difficult to do or make progress with.
- The final chapter of the book was tough going.
- "tough luck": used to express a lack of sympathy for someone's problem (often informal).
- You failed the test? Tough luck.
Variants and Related Words
- Toughen (verb): to make or become tough.
- Military training toughened him up.
- Toughness (noun): the quality of being tough.
- The toughness of the material is impressive.
- Tough-minded (adjective): realistic and determined; not sentimental.
- A tough-minded approach to business.
Synonyms
- Adjective: durable, strong, resilient, difficult, hard, challenging, strict, harsh, rough.
- Noun: thug, ruffian, bully, hooligan.
Related Phrasal Verbs
- Tough out: to endure a difficult situation until it ends.
- We just have to tough out this storm.
- Tough it out: (similar to "tough out") to endure hardship bravely.
- It's a difficult period, but we can tough it out.
Related Idioms
- Tough as nails: very tough and strong, either physically or in character.
- Don't be fooled by her smile; she's tough as nails in negotiations.
- Tough cookie: a person who is strong and determined, able to deal with difficult situations.
- She's a tough cookie; she'll recover from this setback.
- When the going gets tough, the tough get going: when conditions become difficult, strong people take action. (Proverb)
- Remember, when the going gets tough, the tough get going.
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
- unfortunate or hard to bear
- had hard luck
- a tough break
- resistant to cutting or chewing
- 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
- violent and lawless
- the more ruffianly element
- tough street gangs
- substantially made or constructed
- sturdy steel shelves
- sturdy canvas
- a tough all-weather fabric
- some plastics are as tough as metal
- physically toughened
- the tough bottoms of his feet
- 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
- not given to gentleness or sentimentality
- a tough character
Noun
- a cruel and brutal fellow
- an aggressive and violent young criminal
- someone who learned to fight in the streets rather than being formally trained in the sport of boxing