tough

Meanings

1. 1
   adj

   Difficult to do or deal with.

   Losing the match was a tough moment for the whole team.

2. 2
   adj

   Strong and able to last; not easily damaged.

   The tent was made of tough canvas that survived years of camping.

3. 3
   adj

   Hard to cut or chew.

   The steak was so tough that I could barely chew it.

4. 4
   adj

   Strict, firm, or not easily moved.

   She is a tough negotiator who never backs down.

5. 5
   adj

   Physically strong and able to handle hardship.

   Only a tough species can survive in the desert.

Appears in

Simplified etymology

Tough descends from Old English and is related to taut, whose early spelling was tought. The noun meaning “a rough or violent man or youth” arose in the United States in the 1860s.

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”). Cognates Cognate with Saterland Frisian toai (“tough”), Bavarian zaach, zach (“tough”), Dutch taai (“tough”), German zäh, zähe (“tough”), Limburgish tiee (“tough”), Luxembourgish zéi (“tough”); also Ancient Greek δάκνω (dáknō, “to bite”), Albanian danë, darë (“tong…

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External links

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• Cambridge Dictionary
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