What does “tough” mean?
- 1
adjectivedifficult to do or deal with
It was a tough decision.
- 2
adjectivestrong and able to deal with hard conditions
You have to be tough to be a firefighter.
- 3
adjectivehard to cut or chew
This steak is too tough.
Tough at a glance
- Part of speech
- adjective
- CEFR level
- B1 (intermediate)
- Pronunciation
- /tʌf/ · TUFF
How to use “tough” correctly
The “-ough” here sounds like “uff”. Compare “though” (oh) and “through” (oo).
Common phrases with “tough”
- tough time
- tough question
- tough luck
Synonyms, opposites and related words
Antonyms (opposite meaning)
- easy
- soft
- weak
Word family
- toughen
- toughness
“tough” is on these word lists
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