toughness

C1 Topic:Abstract Ideas

US /ˈtʌfnəs/ See IPA manual

Freq #38739

Meanings

1

noun
The quality of being strong and able to endure hardship.

Years of training gave the athletes both physical and mental toughness.
2

noun
The quality of being hard to deal with or difficult.

The toughness of the exam surprised even the best students.
3

noun
The strength and durability of a material.

The toughness of the steel made it ideal for building bridges.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · the quality of being strong... staminastaying power

2 noun · the quality of being hard... formidability

3 noun · the strength and durability... ruggedness

Word family

Forms toughnesses

Etymology

From Middle English toughnesse, towghnesse, towghenesse, equivalent to tough + -ness.

toughnesse Middle English

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Abstract Ideas Word Formation & Derivatives

External links

# toughness

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C1
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /ˈtʌfnəs/
**Frequency rank:** 38739

## Meanings
1. The quality of being strong and able to endure hardship.
2. The quality of being hard to deal with or difficult.
3. The strength and durability of a material.

## Examples
- Years of training gave the athletes both physical and mental toughness.
- The toughness of the exam surprised even the best students.
- The toughness of the steel made it ideal for building bridges.

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: toughnesse

## Etymology
From Middle English toughnesse, towghnesse, towghenesse, equivalent to tough + -ness.

## AI Etymology
Toughness is from Middle English toughnesse, towghnesse, towghenesse, equivalent to tough + -ness. The analysis is mainly morphological: the modern nominal form is built from the named base and affix. In present-day use, it can mean the quality of being strong and able to endure hardship, or the quality of being hard to deal with or difficult.

## Topics
- Abstract Ideas
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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