toughness C1 Topic:Describing Qualities 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 AI details From Middle English toughnesse, towghnesse, towghenesse, equivalent to tough + -ness. toughnesse Middle English View etymology graph -> Topics Describing Qualities Word Formation & Derivatives External links Cambridge Dictionary Wiktionary Google Images # 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 - Describing Qualities - Word Formation & Derivatives markdown