tough

adjective
/tʌf/

Of a material, strong and resilient; sturdy.

Example

“The tent, made of tough canvas, held up to many abuses.”

Other meanings

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.”

Related words

toughhearted
toughminded
toughshank
untough
do it tough
hang tough
tough nut
tough sell
tough tacos
tough times
semitough
supertough

Example sentences

“You're going to have to tough it out.”
Tatoeba · shekitten · CC0
“He stayed loyal even when things were tough.”
Tatoeba · Igider · CC0

Word history

From Old English "tōh".

Where this comes from

This definition is adapted from “tough” on Wiktionary, by its contributors; example sentences are from Tatoeba, credited to their authors above, published under CC BY-SA 4.0. This page is published under the same licence.