What is another word for tough?
Synonyms for tough
tʌftough
This thesaurus page includes all potential synonyms, words with the same meaning and similar terms for the word tough.
Complete Dictionary of Synonyms and Antonyms
Princeton's WordNet
street fighter, toughnoun
someone who learned to fight in the streets rather than being formally trained in the sport of boxing
Synonyms:
yobo, hoodlum, toughie, rowdy, hood, bully, hooligan, goon, yobbo, yob, strong-armer, roughneck, ruffian, street fighter, punk, thugAntonyms:
nonviolent, good, tender, delicate, sentimental, protective, easy, flakey, flaky, tenderised, crispy, soft, untoughened, crisp, comfortable, chewable, tenderized, comfy, cuttablehood, hoodlum, goon, punk, thug, tough, toughie, strong-armernoun
an aggressive and violent young criminal
Synonyms:
goon, sticker, stumper, lubber, oaf, strong-armer, ruffian, stumblebum, tinder, punk, kindling, cowling, poser, exhaust hood, cowl, punk rocker, street fighter, bully, clod, yobo, thug, toughie, yob, hooligan, roughneck, spunk, yobbo, hoodlum, lummox, punk rock, lout, lump, touchwood, rowdy, lens hood, gawk, bonnet, hood, capAntonyms:
crisp, untoughened, delicate, flaky, tenderised, tender, chewable, tenderized, flakey, crispy, sentimental, good, easy, soft, comfortable, protective, nonviolent, cuttable, comfybully, tough, hooligan, ruffian, roughneck, rowdy, yob, yobo, yobboadjective
a cruel and brutal fellow
Synonyms:
yobo, hoodlum, toughie, rowdy, hood, bully, hooligan, goon, yobbo, yob, strong-armer, roughneck, ruffian, street fighter, punk, thugAntonyms:
tenderised, sentimental, delicate, flakey, easy, good, tender, flaky, protective, chewable, crispy, untoughened, soft, comfortable, tenderized, cuttable, comfy, nonviolent, crisptoughadjective
not given to gentleness or sentimentality
"a tough character"
Synonyms:
rugged, baffling, toughened, problematic, bad, sturdy, hard, problematical, elusive, ruffianly, knottyAntonyms:
crisp, good, tenderized, flakey, delicate, tender, chewable, comfy, crispy, easy, untoughened, sentimental, tenderised, nonviolent, protective, cuttable, flaky, soft, comfortablerugged, toughadjective
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"
Synonyms:
rugged, toughened, problematic, broken, sturdy, hard, furrowed, problematical, elusive, baffling, bad, ruffianly, knottyAntonyms:
tender, chewable, flakey, tenderised, delicate, easy, cuttable, protective, crisp, nonviolent, soft, sentimental, comfortable, tenderized, untoughened, flaky, crispy, good, comfytough, toughenedadjective
physically toughened
"the tough bottoms of his feet"
Synonyms:
rugged, baffling, toughened, problematic, bad, sturdy, tempered, hard, hardened, problematical, treated, elusive, ruffianly, knottyAntonyms:
tender, crisp, tenderised, delicate, untoughened, sentimental, crispy, comfortable, flaky, protective, good, tenderized, chewable, easy, comfy, nonviolent, soft, flakey, cuttablesturdy, toughadjective
substantially made or constructed
"sturdy steel shelves"; "sturdy canvas"; "a tough all-weather fabric"; "some plastics are as tough as metal"
Synonyms:
knotty, problematic, ruffianly, bad, rugged, toughened, baffling, stout, elusive, hard, sturdy, inflexible, stalwart, uncompromising, hardy, problematicalAntonyms:
tenderised, crispy, cuttable, flakey, untoughened, comfortable, tender, delicate, good, crisp, tenderized, easy, chewable, soft, sentimental, comfy, nonviolent, protective, flakyruffianly, toughadjective
violent and lawless
"the more ruffianly element"; "tough street gangs"
Synonyms:
rugged, toughened, problematic, bad, sturdy, hard, problematical, elusive, baffling, ruffianly, knottyAntonyms:
nonviolent, flaky, chewable, delicate, soft, tenderized, comfortable, tender, untoughened, comfy, tenderised, good, easy, cuttable, crisp, sentimental, flakey, protective, crispybad, toughadjective
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"
Synonyms:
knotty, big, regretful, spoiled, ruffianly, uncollectible, risky, speculative, bad, rugged, toughened, problematic, baffling, elusive, hard, forged, defective, sturdy, sorry, spoilt, unsound, high-risk, problematical, unfitAntonyms:
untoughened, chewable, tender, soft, comfy, protective, delicate, cuttable, crisp, easy, crispy, good, flaky, comfortable, tenderised, sentimental, nonviolent, flakey, tenderizedtoughadjective
resistant to cutting or chewing
Synonyms:
rugged, baffling, toughened, problematic, bad, sturdy, hard, problematical, elusive, ruffianly, knottyAntonyms:
cuttable, tender, delicate, flakey, crispy, tenderized, chewable, easy, comfortable, comfy, untoughened, protective, good, sentimental, nonviolent, tenderised, crisp, soft, flakyhard, toughadjective
unfortunate or hard to bear
"had hard luck"; "a tough break"
Synonyms:
severe, knotty, arduous, grueling, ruffianly, toilsome, hard, bad, rugged, sturdy, toughened, heavy, voiceless, laborious, difficult, elusive, knockout, gruelling, intemperate, concentrated, punishing, unvoiced, problematic, operose, backbreaking, problematical, surd, strong, bafflingAntonyms:
crispy, comfortable, protective, easy, good, tenderised, delicate, cuttable, comfy, tender, flaky, tenderized, flakey, sentimental, chewable, crisp, soft, nonviolent, untoughenedbaffling, elusive, knotty, problematic, problematical, toughadjective
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"
Synonyms:
subtle, gnarled, involved, knotty, problematical, debatable, ruffianly, bad, rugged, toughened, problematic, snarly, baffling, gnarly, hard, tangled, sturdy, knobbed, knotted, elusive, tortuous, convoluted, snarledAntonyms:
tender, delicate, sentimental, protective, crispy, comfortable, easy, nonviolent, flakey, soft, flaky, comfy, cuttable, untoughened, chewable, good, tenderised, tenderized, crisp
Dictionary of English Synonymes
toughadjective
Synonyms:
adhesive, tenacious, cohesive, not brittle, not easily brokentoughadjective
Synonyms:
coriaceous, leatherytoughadjective
toughadjective
Synonyms:
refractory, stubborn, obduratetoughadjective
Synonyms:
[Colloquial.] difficult, hard, hard to deal withtoughadjective
Synonyms:
[Colloquial.] severe (as a storm), violent
Synonyms, Antonyms & Associated Words
toughadjective
Synonyms:
tenacious, unyielding, cohesive, adhesive, obdurate, refractory, stubborn, difficult, arduous, hard
Words popularity by usage frequency
How to use tough in a sentence?
In the first game I just tripped over. I'm not the smoothest mover on tour and I tripped over and grazed my hand, and the cramping was tough toward the end.
There is no tough sells anymore, it’s just timing, i think they used to be apprehensive. I think genuinely a lot of people used to turn up going ‘What am I doing? And what is this?’ And now I think it’s a thing where people call us, and it's become a part of record company strategy for launching an album, singer or artist. In many ways that has become a lot easier.
I did speak to Cindy McCain, and I wished her well, I wished John well. They’ve headed back, but I understand he’ll come if we ever needed his vote —which hopefully we won’t, but the word is that John will come back if we ever needed his vote. And it’s too bad, he’s going through a very tough time, no question about it, but he will come back if we need his vote.
Texas Republican Sen. John Cornyn:
I likened the nomination process and confirmation process to a piñata, which is only to say that the confirmation process around here has gotten pretty tough. But I'm not going to be preached to by the Democratic leader or by Democrats, this is a playbook that has been written by the Democratic leader and our colleagues across the aisle.
It’s always bittersweet coming out with at least one (point), but when we have a lead for that long, you obviously want two. That’s a tough one to swallow.
Translations for tough
From our Multilingual Translation Dictionary
- صارمArabic
- tvrdýCzech
- hårdeDanish
- zähGerman
- σκληρός, τραχύςGreek
- malmolaEsperanto
- severo, resistente, de mano duraSpanish
- سفتPersian
- hankala, kova, sitkeä, vaativa, kovis, ankaraFinnish
- difficile, durFrench
- righinIrish
- righinn, tapaidh, fulangachScottish Gaelic
- कठिनHindi
- rágósHungarian
- kerasIndonesian
- duroItalian
- קָשׁ� הHebrew
- きつい, 辛い, たいへんJapanese
- მკაცრი, ხულიგანი, უხეში, გამძლეGeorgian
- ಕಠಿಣKannada
- 힘든Korean
- lentaLatin
- taaiDutch
- vanskeligNorwegian
- trudnyPolish
- ګران, سخت, کلکPashto, Pushto
- resistentePortuguese
- greuRomanian
- трудный, жёсткий, прочный, тяжёлый, тяжкийRussian
- tuffSwedish
- கடினமானTamil
- కఠినమైనTelugu
- ยากThai
- sertTurkish
- � орсткийUkrainian
- مشکلUrdu
- khóVietnamese
- האַרטYiddish
- 强硬Chinese
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"tough." Synonyms.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 9 Jun 2024. <https://www.synonyms.com/synonym/tough>.
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