Tough

Definition: Tough

Tough

Adjective

1. Not given to gentleness or sentimentality; "a tough character".

2. 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".

3. Physically toughened; "the tough bottoms of his feet".

4. Substantially made or constructed; "sturdy steel shelves"; "sturdy canvas"; "a tough all-weather fabric"; "some plastics are as tough as metal".

5. Violent and lawless; "the more ruffianly element"; "tough street gangs".

6. Feeling physical discomfort or pain; "my throat feels bad"; "she felt bad all over"; ('tough' is occasionally used colloquially for `bad' as in "he was feeling tough after a restless night").

7. Tough to cut or chew.

8. Unfortunate or hard to bear; "had hard luck"; "a tough break".

Noun

1. Someone who learned to fight in the streets rather than being formally trained in the sport of boxing.

2. An aggressive and violent young criminal.

3. A cruel and brutal fellow.

Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
 

Date "tough" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1380. (references)

Note: Tough \Tough\, adjective. [Comparative Tougher; superlative Toughest.]. (references)

Mining

Slang

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Synonyms: Tough

Bad Man

Rough, rowdy, hooligan, tough, ugly customer, mean mother, ruffian, bully, meanie; Jonathan Wild; hangman.

Blusterer

Noun: blusterer, swaggerer, vaporer, roisterer, brawler; fanfaron; braggart; (boaster); bully, terrorist, rough; bulldozer, hoodlum, hooligan, larrikin, roarer; Mohock, Mohawk; drawcansir, swashbuckler, Captain Bobadil, Sir Lucius O'Trigger, Thraso, Pistol, Parolles, Bombastes Furioso, Hector, Chrononhotonthologos; jingo; desperado, dare-devil, fire eater; fury; (violent person); rowdy; slang-whanger, tough.

Coherence

Glue; agglutinate, conglutinate; cement, lute, paste, gum; solder, weld; cake, consolidate; (solidify); agglomerate. Adjective: cohesive, adhesive, adhering, cohering; Verb: tenacious, tough; sticky.

Difficulty

Noun: difficulty; hardness; Adjective: impracticability; (impossibility); tough work, hard work, uphill work; hard task, Herculean task, Augean task; task of Sisyphus, Sisyphean labor, tough job, teaser, rasper, dead lift.

Adjective: difficult, not easy, hard, tough; troublesome, toilsome, irksome; operose, laborious, onerous, arduous, Herculean, formidable; sooner said than done; more easily said than done, easier said than done.

Evil doer

Savage, brute, ruffian, barbarian, semibarbarian, caitiff, desperado; Apache, hoodlum, hood, plug-ugly, pug-ugly, Red Skin, tough; Mohawk, Mo-hock, Mo-hawk; bludgeon man, bully, rough, hooligan, larrikin, dangerous classes, ugly customer; thief.

Excitation

Phrase: the heart beating high, the heart going pitapat, the heart leaping into one's mouth; the blood being up, the blood boiling in one's veins; the eye glistening - "in a fine frenzy rolling"; the head turned; "when the going gets tough, the tough get going".

Tenacity

Adjective: tenacious, tough, strong, resisting, sequacious, stringy, gristly cartilaginous, leathery, coriaceous, tough as whitleather; stubborn. (obstinate).

Crosswords: Tough

A number of the inmates, as tough as they acted during the day, would often cry themself to sleep at night (Sleepers; writing credit: Barry Levinson)

He's not as tough as he thinks (The Sting; writing credit: David S. Ward)

Tough break for Hand Job. He was all set to get shipped out on a medical (Full Metal Jacket; writing credit: Gustav Hasford; Michael Herr)

Look, I guarantee there'll be tough times (Runaway Bride; writing credit: Josann McGibbon; Sara Parriott)

What is it, you miss the tough guy (As Good As It Gets; writing credit: Mark Andrus)

Hangin' tough, hangin' tough, hangin' tough (HANGIN' TOUGH; performing artist: New Kids On The Block)

And and talkin' like it's tough (Crazy; performing artist: Aerosmith)

Well tough luck that boys mine now (Sk8er Boi; performing artist: Avril Lavigne)

Yesterday wasn't half as tough as this time (Too Little Too Late; performing artist: Barenaked Ladies)

I found you could dance and still look tough anyway, oh yes I did (Keeping The Faith; performing artist: Billy Joel)

Make it too tough for the enemy to get in, and you can't get out. (references; author: unknown)

Tough times gets you real friends, and others get you tough times. (references; author: unknown)

When the going gets tough, the tough get going. When the going still gets tough, the tough pray. (references; author: unknown)

There goes one tough top cop! (references; author: unknown)

Johnny Tough (1974)

Tough Guy (1970)

It's Tough to Be a Bird (1969)

Tough Macduff (1967)

Three Tough Guys (1957)

Hangin' Tough (performing artist: New Kids On The Block)

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Books

• Knock 'Em Dead 2003: Great Answers to over 200 Tough Interview Questions-Plus the Latest Electronic Job Search Strategies (Knock 'Em Dead, 2003) (reference)

• Tough Chauncey (reference)

• Chopper 6 : no tears for a tough guy (reference)

• The Colorblind Career: What Every African American, Hispanic American and Asian American Needs to Succeed in Today's Tough Job Market (reference)

• Tough Jews : Fathers, Sons, and Gangster Dreams (reference)

  (more book examples)

Periodicals

• Tough Puzzles (reference)

  (more periodical examples)

Theater & Movies

• Cheech and Chong - Things Are Tough All Over (reference)

• The Firm Parts: Not-So Tough Aerobics (reference)

• Things Are Tough All Over (reference)

  (more DVD examples; more video examples)

Music

• Carl & The Passions - So Tough / Holland [ORIGINAL RECORDING REMASTERED] (reference)

• WWF: Tough Enough [EXPLICIT LYRICS] [SOUNDTRACK] (reference)

  (more classical music examples; more popular music examples)

High Tech

• Hewlett Packard Q1298A Laser Jet Tough Paper (reference)

  (more camera examples; more video game examples; more computer examples; more electronic examples; more software examples)

Consumer Goods

• DeWalt DW2160 13-Piece Screwdriving Set in Tough Case (reference)

  (more baby examples; more wireless phone examples; more garden examples; more kitchen examples; more tool examples)

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

It's tough to run a 100-yard dash on Kalgin Island SURVEYOR personnel in the mud. Credit: Coast & Geodetic Survey Historical Image Collection.

It sure is tough to stay dry with the tide coming in Base line measurement in southeast Alaska Party of C. G. Quillian. Credit: Coast & Geodetic Survey Historical Image Collection.

"Thar she blows!!!" A little tough to miss seeing this one. Credit: Sailing for Science - the NOAA Fleet Then and Now.

Senior Airman Barry Strube, #140, right, and Staff Sgt. Gabriel Zorrero, #143, left, both Air Force Reserve Command Defender Challenge team members, race to the top of the "Tough One" Oct. 30 during the Defender Challenge competition at Lackland Air Force.

You aren't tough enough for AIDS p. Credit: National Library of Medicine; photo by Randy Anderson, Studio 3..

"Spinning Yarns" at the old Naval Home, Greenwich, England, circa 1830. Engraving by George Cruikshank, from "Tough Yarns", 1835, frontispiece. Credit: NAVY.

An iron curtain's tough to beat your head against!. Credit: Library of Congress.

That tough kid brother again. Credit: Library of Congress.

Fort Knox, Kentucky. Light tanks. Tough soldiers all. The men of this light tank crew, in training near Fort Knox, Kentucky, are getting the experience and the hardening needed to break the Axis. Credit: Library of Congress.

Manhattan Beach Coast Guard training station. Coast Guard training station, Manhattan Beach, New York, is a tough one with a full schedule; recreation is not neglected. Dances and singing take up most of the leisure in the evening. Homer Smith, tenor of t. Credit: Library of Congress.

Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

It is tough work to handle iron when there is ice on the pavements

They was a guard made it tough.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

Health

Working together to hear better may be tough on everyone for a while. (references)

It also teaches them how to change the way they act in tough situations. (references)

In cases that persist for years, the plaque undergoes fibrosis, or formation of tough fibrous tissue, and even calcification, or formation of calcium deposits. (references)

Business

This could represent tough competition in the near future. (references)

American products meet a tough competition from European countries (France, Spain, and Germany). (references)

WAP and HSCSD technologies started to be used widely in 2000, and GPRS technology was introduced in July 2000. Wider use is enhanced by tough competition. (references)

Civil Liberties

Czech Republic

Many observers welcomed the university's tough stance against allowing extremists a platform to express their views, while others criticized the university's actions as a restriction of academic freedom. (references)

Economic History

Sri Lanka

As a result, it currently faces tough competition from new regional ports. (references)

Spain

Photovoltaic solar energy is still a very young market facing tough technological challenges. (references)

Political Economy

REPUBLIC OF KOREA

At the same time, Korea faced tough competition from Japan and other advanced countries in exporting cutting-edge, high-tech products. (references)

Trade

Egypt

The Customs Authority has a tough policy regarding commercial invoices. (references)

Slovak Rep

High interest rates and tough credit requirements restrict availability of bank credit, especially for small and medium sized enterprises (SME). (references)

Travel

Ukraine

Ukrainians can be shrewd and tough negotiators. (references)

Kuwait

Use of narcotics is increasing in Kuwait, and visitors found with illegal narcotics or substances are subjected to tough criminal penalties. (references)

Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

Expressions using "tough": a tough guy ♦ a tough policy ♦ become tough ♦ get tough ♦ To make it tough ♦ too tough ♦ tough as whitleather ♦ tough fight ♦ tough guy ♦ tough job ♦ tough lightly ♦ tough luck ♦ tough nut ♦ tough nut to crack ♦ tough old boy ♦ tough programme. Additional references.

Beginning with "tough": tough-as-nails, tough-bargaining, Tough-cake, tough-guy, tough-guys, Tough-head, tough-it-out, tough-leaved, tough-looking, tough-me-not, tough-minded, tough-mindedness, tough-nut, Tough-pitch, tough-skinned, tough-speaking, tough-tackling, tough-talking, tough-to-prove, tough-wearing.

Ending with "tough": get-tough, leather-tough, pomegranate-tough, rough-tough, semi-tough, steel-tough, street-tough, teak-tough.

Albanian

rezistent (Hardy, heavy duty, serviceable), i rreptë (austere, hard, hard and fast, iron-handed, raucous, rigorous, severe, slashing, strict, stringent, unkind, unmerciful, unrelenting), i regjur (arrant, inveterate, weather beaten), i paepur (adamant, cast iron, dogged, firm, hard bitten, hard boiled, implacable, indefatigable, indomitable, inexorable, inflexible, pertinacious, rigid, stiff, uncompromising, unrelenting, unyielding), i fortë (able bodied, adamant, adamantine, brawny, cast iron, cogent, decuman, Doughty, durable, endurable, enduring, fast, fierce, firm, flinty, forceful, Hale, hard, Hardy, heavy duty, high pitched, intense, intensive, keen, lancinating, nervous, oaky, potent, powerful, red blooded, refractory, resistant, robust, rocky, rough, rugged, screamy, serviceable, sharp, smart, solid, sound, spanking, stable, staunch, steely, stentorian, stiff, stout, strong, sturdy, swashing, swingeing, tenable, tenacious, two-fisted, vehement, vigorous, violent, virile, virulent, well-built, well-set), i ashpër (argute, austere, biting, bluff, bluffy, Brant, bristly, brusque, churlish, coarse, crude, ding-dong, dour, draconian, draconic, gravelly, grim, gruff, hard, harsh, ill, ill natured, inclement, keen, malevolent, pipy, raucous, rigid, rigorous, rough, rough and ready, rude, savage, scabrous, scathing, scratchy, severe, shaggy, slashing, smart, stern, strict, truculent, uncharitable, unkind, unmerciful, violent, wiry). (various references)

Arabic 

‏حامي (hot, rugged), ‏شكس (cross-grained, discordant, fractious, petulant, pungent, shrewish, untoward, wayward), ‏خشن (boorish, bristly, coarse, crude, gross, gruff, ill mannered, impolite, indelicate, jagged, mannerless, plebeian, rasping, raucous, rough, roughen, rowdy, rude, rugged, rustic, sand, scabrous, scratchy, stiff, surly, toughen, uncivil, uncouth, vulgar), ‏صارم (astringent, austere, disciplinary, dour, driving, exact, extreme, fast, firm, hard, hard and fast, hardheaded, inclement, puritan, ramrod, rigid, rigorous, rugged, searching, severe, sharp, stark, stern, stiff, strait, strict, stringent, swingeing, tight, unrelenting, violent), ‏صلب (adamant, aguish, callosity, callous, cast iron, concrete, consolidate, corneous, cross oneself, crucifixion, crucify, cruel, firm, harden, horny, inflexible, loin, metallic, out and out, persistent, ramrod, resistant, rigid, robust, sear, solid, solidary, stabile, stark, stiff, stiffen, stubborn, temper, tenacious, unkind, unyielding), ‏صلب العود, ‏عسير المضغ, ‏عسير جدا (murderous), ‏شخص شكس, ‏حازم (decisive, determined, firm, gritty, resolute, steadfast, steady, strong-willed), قَاس (difficult), ‏قاس (austere, callous, concrete, cruel, cutthroat, drastic, firm, gauge, hard, hard-hearted, harsh, inclement, inflexible, measure, merciless, pitiless, relentless, rigid, rigorous, rough, rugged, ruthless, scale, severe, solid, standardize, stark, stern, stiff, strict, stringent, tape, try on, unfeeling, unkind, unyielding), ‏قاس صلب (callous, concrete, firm, hard, harsh, inflexible, relentless, rigid, rough, ruthless, severe, solid, stiff, strict), ‏قاسي (austere, drastic, hard, hard and fast, hard bitten, harsh, rough, rugged, severe, sharp, slashing, stern, stony, strait, strict, stringent, unyielding), ‏قوي (able bodied, acute, athletic, brawny, burly, forceful, forcible, full-bodied, furious, generous, hardy, hearty, heavy duty, husky, incorrodible, intense, intensive, keen, lively, lusty, manly, mighty, muscular, pithy, potent, powered, powerful, precious, pronounced, reliable, robust, rude, sledge hammer, spanking, staunch, stern, stiff, stout, strong, sturdy, telling, tight, trig, vehement, vigorous, violent, virtuous, vivid, youthful), ‏لزج (adherent, adhesive, clingy, glairy, gluey, glutinous, gummy, ropy, slimy, sticky, stringy, tacky, tenacious, viscid, viscous), ‏متشدد (hard, severe, stern, strict, stringent), ‏متين (able bodied, consistent, durable, enduring, firm, lasting, robust, safe, secure, solid, sound, stabile, staunch, stout, strong, sturdy, substantial), ‏عنيف (bitter, dragon's, drastic, fell, fierce, gory, heady, impetuous, knockabout, outrageous, passionate, rabid, rigorous, robust, rough, rude, ruthless, scurrilous, set, severe, sharp, shrewd, smart, stiff, stout, strenuous, stringent, strong, torricellian, tumultuous, turbulent, vehement, violent, volcanic). (various references)

Bulgarian 

упорит (asinine, constant, defiant, die hard, dogged, flinty, gritty, hard bitten, hard boiled, hard core, hard set, hardheaded, hard-shell, importunate, incompliant, indomitable, insistent, intractable, inveterate, mulish, obdurate, obstinate, opinionated, patient, persevering, persistent, pertinacious, piggish, purposeful, refractory, self willed, self-opinionated, set, spiky, stolid, stout, stouthearted, strenuous, sturdy, tenacious, unpliant, unremitting, unwearing, wilful, wrongheaded), як (brawny, chopping, fast, fit, flourishing, grunting ox, hard, husky, iron, lusty, robust, rude, rugged, stalwart, stocky, stout, sturdy, thickset, two-fisted, vigorous, yak), труден (arduous, awkward, complex, difficile, difficult, dodgy, formidable, heavy, knotty, laborious, lively, painful, perplexed, perplexing, pick-and-shovel, rocky, sore, spiny, stroppy, taxing, thorny, ticklish, tight, tricky, troublesome, uphill, warm), тежък (cumbrous, dense, difficult, distressing, faint, grave, grievous, grinding, hammering, hard, heavy, hefty, high, hulking, labored, laborious, laboured, leaden, lumping, lumpish, lumpy, massive, massy, muggy, onerous, painful, plodding, ponderous, robust, rugged, sad, severe, shrewd, sledgehammer, slow, smart, smashing, soggy, solemn, sore, stiff, stodgy, taxing, thorny, tight, traumatic, trying, unwieldy, uphill, weighty), груб (abrupt, bearish, boeotian, brusque, callous, churlish, clownish, clumsy, coarse, coarse grained, common, crude, cubbish, curt, earthy, feral, glaring, graceless, gross, gruff, hard boiled, harsh, heavy, hoggish, homespun, horny, loutish, low, material, outlandish, raspy, raucous, raw, rough, rough-shod, rowdy, rude, rugged, russet, rusty, short, surly, uncivil, uncouth, wild and woolly), опасен хулиган (plug ugly), непоправим (beyond retrieve, incorrigible, incurable, inveterate, irreclaimable, irrecoverable, irredeemable, irremediable, irreparable, irretrievable, remediless), мъчен (awkward, difficult, formidable, hairy, ill, rum, rummy, stiff, tight, trying), закоравял (callous, case-hardened, chronic, confirmed, crusted, double-dyed, habitual, hard boiled, indurate, ingrain, ingrained, inveterate, irreclaimable, obdurate), жилав (leathery, lithe, nervy, resilient, rubbery, sinewy, stringy, wiry), безпощаден (unsparing), бандитски (swashbuckling), бандит (bandit, brigand, bush-ranger, bushwhacker, butch, hijacker, hold-up-man, mosstrooper, rough), престъпен (criminal, culpable, fell, felonious, flagitious, guilty, maleficent, malfeasant, nefarious, sinful, sinister, wrongful), издръжлив (enduring, hard bitten, patient, proof, reliable, resistant, seaworthy, spunky, stout, strong). (various references)

Chinese 

韌 (annealed, bow case, pliable but strong, tenacious, to cover), 坚韧, 強硬 , 倔 (crabby). (various references)

Czech

tvrdý (big, brazen, callous, crackdown, cruel, deep, hard, harsh, heavy, relentless, rigorous, sound, steely, stiff, stone-dead, stony, unkind), tuhý (grim, hard, rigid, solid, stiff, tenacious), zdatný (able, able bodied, efficient, strong, sturdy), vytrvalý (assiduous, persistent, steadfast, strenuous, sustained, tireless, unremitting), silný (bad, big, boisterous, good, hard, heady, heavy, hefty, high, large, lusty, mighty, muscular, potent, powerful, red blooded, robust, rude, rugged, stalwart, stiff, stocky, stout, strong, sturdy, thick, valid, vigorous, violent), přísný (austere, exacting, firm, hard, harsh, heavy, nice, rigid, rigorous, severe, sharp, stern, stiff, strict, stringent, strong, uncharitable), otužilý (hard bitten, Hardy, weatherproof, weather-resistant), ostrý (abrupt, acrid, acute, biting, crisp, ferocious, fierce, glib, hard, harsh, high pitched, hot, incisive, intense, keen, piercing, poignant, pointed, rigorous, sharp, shrill, smart, snappy, spicy, strident, tart, trenchant), odolný (durable, immune, resilient, resistant), nesnadný (difficult, hard, uphill), houževnatý (dogged, persistent, resilient, stiff, strenuous, tenacious, wiry). (various references)

Danish

sej (black cod, black pollack, coalfish, ductile, pollack, saithe, sillock, tenacious). (various references)

Dutch

taai (boring, leather, stodgy, tiresome). (various references)

Farsi 

پی مانند, محکم (Buff, Firm, Meaty, Secure, Stable, Steady, Steel, Stout, Strict, Strong, Sturdy, Substantial, Tenacious, Tight), سفت (Astringent, Callous, Concrete, Fast, Hard, Inelastic, Ironclad, Stark, Stiff, Taut, Tenacious, Tense, Thick, Tight, Wiry), زمخت (Blowsy, Blowzy, Churlish, Clumsy, Coarse, Crass, Crude, Gross, Hard, Impolite, Raucous, Rough, Rude, Rugged), شق (Inelastic, Prick, Stiff, Taut, Wooden), شدید (Boisterous, Chronic, Diametrical, Drastic, Exquisite, Grievous, Hard, Inclement, Intense, Intensive, Keen, Rigorous, Rugged, Severe, Sopping, Stalwart, Strenuous, Vehement, Vigorous, Violent), دشوار (Arduous, Difficult, Hard, Inexplicable, Intolerable, Laborious, Onerous, Slippery, Sore, Spiny, Sticky, Strait, Uphill), بااسطقس (Staminal), بادوام (Evergreen, Hardy). (various references)

Finnish

sitkeä (dogged, persevering, sticky, tenacious, viscous). (various references)

French

tenace, pénible (toilsome), calé, cinglant, collant, coriace, difficile, dur (toughminded), endurant, acharné, ferme, vigoureux, pétrin, résistant (tolerant), raide, robuste, sévère, solide, féroce. (various references)

German

zäh (dogged, glutinous, hardened, Hardy, leathery, rubbery, slow moving, stiff, stringily, stringy, tenacious, tenaciously), schwierig (arduous, arduously, awkward, awkwardly, catchy, challenging, difficult, hard, stiff, tackling, trying, upsetting, vexed), robust (robust, robustly, stalwart, strong, sturdy, virile), hartnäckig (adamant, besetting, dogged, dour, importunate, importunately, insistent, intractable, inveterate, obdurate, obstinate, obstinately, persistent, pertinacious, pertinaciously, pugnacious, pugnaciously, refractorily, refractory, strenuous, stubborn, tenacious, tenaciously, unregenerate, unrelenting, urgent). (various references)

Greek 

σκληρός (cruel, grim, gruelling, hard, harsh, rough). (various references)

Hebrew 

מחוספס (coarse, gnarled, hirsute, ragged, rough, rugged, scaled off, uneven), קשוח (callous, cruel, harsh, impenitent, inexorable, stern, stony), קשה (adamant, crusty, difficult, formidable, hard, harsh, heavy, severe, stern, stiff, Strait), עקשני (intractable, mulish, obstinate, recalcitrant), חזק (cast iron, firm, forceful, forcible, forte, hard, intense, intensive, mighty, potent, powerful, stiff, strong). (various references)

Hungarian

szívós (hardy, indefatigable, leathery, persistent, stout, to die hard, wiry). (various references)

Indonesian

tegar (rigid, stiff), tangguh (firm, hard to defeat, strong, sturdy), penjahat (bandit, criminal, delinquent, desperado, felon, gangster, scum, villain), pelik (complicated, mysterious), pekat (stiff, strong, thick (liquid)), liat (gristly, pliant). (various references)

Italian

tenace (firm, lasting, single minded, strong, tenacious), violento (forcible, furious, heady, heavy, hot, rampant, rough, severe, sharp, swingeing, violent, wild), rude (brutal, coarse, gruff, harsh, rough, rude, rugged, sour, sullen, surly, unkind, unpleasant), robusto (able bodied, beefy, bouncing, burly, chunky, Hale, Hardy, hearty, hefty, muscular, robust, stout, strapping, strong, sturdy), resistente (hard-wearing, Hardy, proof, refractory, resistant, strong), ostinato (determined, headstrong, obdurate, obstinate, opinionated, persistent, pigheaded, self willed, single minded, stiff necked, stubborn), ostico (difficult, hard), inflessibile (adamant, inflexible, relentless, resolute, rigid, steely, stern, stiff, unbending, unfaltering, unrelenting), forte (aloud, big, brawny, deep, Doughty, fast, fastness, forceful, Fort, forte, hard, hardly, heavy, hefty, high, hot, keen, living, loud, loudly, mighty, nervous, nervy, potent, puissant, racy, robust, rugged, severe, short, shrewd, stiff, stout, strong, sturdy, vigorous), duro (adamant, bitter, dull, flinty, grueling, gruelling, hard, hard part, hard-hearted, harsh, rough, rugged, severe, sharp, something hard, steely, stiff, swingeing, testing, tight, trying), dura (hard), difficile (arduous, awkward, catchy, difficult, difficult to please, fastidious, hard, inconvenient, problem, rough, severe, stiff, strained, stressful, tight, tricky, trying, uneasy), delinquente (criminal, delinquent, offender, rogue, villain), brutale (bestial, brutal, brute, brutish). (various references)

Japanese Kanji 

骨っぽい　 (bony, hard to deal with, plucky, spirited), 骨っぽい (bony, hard to deal with, plucky, spirited), 辛い (adverse, harsh, heart-breaking, hot, painful, salty), 手強い (difficult, resolute, strict, strong, stubborn), 強靭 (stiff, strong, tenacious), か弱い (be dejected, body trembling, calculating, chattering, Cheer up!, chipping, clash, clatter, crash, dry or rough feeling, feeble, feel disappointed, feel emotionally drained, feel let down, firmly, frail, frozen solid, heartbroken, lose heart, overly serious, peanut brittle, rattle, rummage, rustling, shrewd, slam, solidly, solidly built, something come loose, tick-tock, tightly, with a bang, with a clank), タバコモザイク病 (sound like tapping a soft belly, tab, tablet, tabloid, taboo, talc, talisman, thallium, tobacco mosaic, toughness), 世知辛い (hard), 不敵 (bold, daring, fearless, intrepid). (various references)

Japanese Katakana 

がっしり (firmly, solidly), きょうじん (assassin's dagger, lunatic, madman, stiff, strong, tenacious), ふてき (bold, daring, fearless, impropriety, inadequacy, inappropriateness, intrepid, unfitness), ほねっぽい (bony, hard to deal with, plucky, spirited), せちがらい (hard), からい (adverse, cyclonic thunder-storm, harsh, hot, salty), タフ , てづよい (difficult, resolute, strict, strong, stubborn), てごわい (difficult, resolute, strict, strong, stubborn). (various references)

Korean 

험한 (hilly). (various references)

Manx

rag-rannee (cad, crook, good-for-nothing, rascal, reprobate, rogue), creoi (adamant, bitter, bitter of frost, blistering, blistering as language, difficult, distressing, dry, hard, hard-boiled, hard-set, hardy, heartless, near, near with money, neat, obdurate, solid, steely, stiff, stiffen, stubborn). (various references)

Pig Latin

oughtay.(various references)

Portuguese

tenaz (close, firm, forceps, persistent, retentive, sturdy, tenacious, tongs), teimoso (ambivalent, balky, die-hard, dogged, hard-mouthed, headstrong, mulish, obstinate, opinionated, peevish, pertinacious, pigheaded, recalcitrant, refractory, self-willed, stiff-necked, strongwilled, stubborn, tumbler, uncompromising, unmanageable, unwilling, wayward, wilful, willful, wrong-headed), renitente (obdurate), brigão (bantam, pugnacious, quarrelsome), coriácea, difícil (arduous, cornered, cramped, difficile, difficult, fussy, go-ahead, hard, inconvenient, kid-glove, knotty, labored, laboured, nice, painful, pernickety, ponderous, puzzling, rugged, thankless, thorny, ticklish, tricky, trying, well-made), duro (adamant, callous, cornered, crapy, crusty, die-hard, flinty, grueling, gruelling, gruff, hard, hard-boiled, hard-up, heartless, iron, iron-bound, jarring, marble, non-ductile, racking, rocky, rough, rugged, set, severe, shrewd, sinewy, solid, stand-up, stern, stiff, toilsome, unfeeling, unkind, unrelenting, unyielding, wiry), espinhoso (briery, kittle, prickly, spiny, thorny), firme (compact, consistent, deep-seated, die-hard, fadeless, fast, firm, fixed, hard, inflexible, iron, non-ductile, resolute, set, settled, sober, solid, stable, steadfast, steady, stern, stiff, strong, sturdy, substantial, tenacious, tight, unbending, uncompromising, unfailing, unfaltering, unhesitating, unmoved, unshaken, unshrinking, unswerving, unwavering, unyielding), forte (accomplished, acute, bold, bouncing, brawny, cogent, decuman, firm, forceful, forcible, fort, forte, fortress, full-blooded, hale, hard, heavy, hefty, high, high-hearted, intense, intensive, keen, loud, lusty, manly, masculine, masterful, mighty, nappy, penetrating, pithy, potent, presidio, racy, red-blooded, robust, salt, sanguineous, seaworthy, sharp, sinewy, snorting, solid, stalwart, stark, stout, strapping, strong, sturdy, substantial, swingeing, telling, two-fisted, unfailing, vehement, venturous, vigorous, wakeless, wholesome), árduo (arduous, difficult, go-ahead, painful, thorny, toilful, toilsome, trying), penoso (arduous, bitter, burdensome, difficult, go-ahead, grievous, irksome, laborious, painful, thorny, toilful, toilsome, trying, unthankful, weary), violento (blustering, boisterous, desperate, drastic, elbow-grease, fierce, forceful, forcible, furious, heady, hot, hot-brained, hot-headed, hot-tempered, impetuous, joggly, judas-colored, judas-coloured, rabid, racking, rambunctious, rampageous, rampant, red, rough, rude, ruffianly, sledge-hammer, smart, smashing, spasmodic, splitting, stormy, swashing, swingeing, tearing, tempestuous, thunderous, towering, two-fisted, uncontrollable, vehement, viatic, violent, virulent), resistente (adamant, durable, firm, lasting, proof, resistant, robust, solid, strong, sturdy, wakeless, wiry), rijo (cornered, robust, stalwart, stiff, strong, sturdy, wiry), robusto (able-bodied, cant, hale, hefty, lusty, masculine, nervy, randy, stalwart, stout, strapping, strong, sturdy, substantial, vigorous, wakeless, wholesome), rude (abrupt, backwoods, barbaric, boisterous, bumbling, caveman, cloddish, coarse, crude, discourteous, displeasing, disrespectful, gothic, gruff, harsh, homespun, husky, incondite, knockabout, larrikin, low-lived, point-blank, raw, rough, rude, rugged, rumbustious, rustic, snippy, tart, unaffable, uncivil, uncouth, uneducated, ungracious, unkind, unnurtured, unpolished, untaught, upstage), valentão (bully, goon, ruffian), inflexível (die-hard, firm, iron-bound, non-ductile, obdurate, relentless, rigorous, rugged, severe, steadfast, stiff, stony, stubborn, unaccommodating, unbending, uncompromising, unfeeling, unpersuadable, unrelenting, unshrinking, unyielding). (various references)

Romanian

trist (bleak, blue, cheerless, dark, darkish, depressing, dispirited, doleful, dolefully, dolorous, downcast, drab, dreary, dull, dumpish, elegiac, glum, joyless, lamenting, maudlin, melancholy, miserable, mournful, mournfully, pensive, pensively, rueful, sad, sadly, sorrowful, splenetic, sullen, unfortunate, unhappy, woebegone, woeful), trainic (durable, fast, firmly, lasting, livelong, solid, solidly, strong), tenace (stubborn, tenacious), tare (adamant, adamantine, badly, crusty, deeply, double, durable, fast, fierce, firm, firmly, greatly, hard, hollow, intense, intensely, lasting, leathery, loud, loudly, mighty, potent, powerful, rigid, robust, rocky, solid, spanking, stalwart, steady, stiff, stout, strong, strongly, sturdy, to the echo, unflinching, unflinchingly, vehement, vigorous, violent), penibil (captious, painful, uncomfortable), anevoios (arduous, difficult, exhausting, hard, troublesome), asiduu (acquisitive, assiduous, assiduously, sedulous), aspru (abrupt, abruptly, acid, acrimonious, biting, brisk, callous, clumsy, coarse, crisp, dour, drastic, earthy, edgy, exacting, firm, grating, gruelling, gruff, hard, harsh, hoarse, homespun, husky, ill, inclement, iron, iron-fisted, keen, lashing, nippy, obdurate, punitive, rasping, rigid, rigidly, rigorous, robust, rough, rugged, scabrous, severe, severely, shaggy, shy, smart, snappish, stern, stiff, Strait, strict, strong, stubborn, unkind, violent, wiry), de apaş, de huligan, dificil (abstract, awkward, captious, choosy, cross-grained, dainty, delicate, difficult, fastidious, finical, hard, ill, intractable, involved, nice, parlous, qualmish, scabrous, spiny, stiff, tender, thorny, ticklish, troublesome, unyielding), dur la pipãit, durabil (durable, lasting, long-lived, solid, steadfast, strong), încãpãţânat (awkward, contumacious, die hard, dogged, dour, hard, headstrong, inveterate, mule, mulish, obdurate, obstinate, opinionated, opinioned, pertinacious, perverse, pig-headed, refractory, royalist, self willed, stolid, stubborn, unwilling, wilful), huligan (bulldozer, bully, hoodlum, hooligan, larrikin, rough, rough neck, rowdy, ruffian), viguros (bouncing, chopping, emphatic, forceful, forcible, forcibly, full-blooded, green, Hale, Hardy, hearty, hot stuff, humming, intense, lusty, nervous, pithy, potent, red blooded, robust, rude, sapful, sinewy, stalwart, stout, stoutly, strapping, strong, strong-limbed, thriving, vigorous, vigorously), puternic (acute, ardent, authoritative, biting, catchy, drastic, exquisite, fierce, flush, forceful, forcible, forcibly, great, hard, heavily, heavy, high, important, intense, intensely, intensive, leonine, loud, lusty, marrowy, mighty, muscular, nervous, nervy, pithy, potent, powerful, pronounced, resistant, robust, rough, rude, searching, severe, sinewy, solid, stark, stout, strapping, strong, towering, vigorous, violent, virulent), rezistent (enduring, fast, hard, Hardy, immune, lasting, patient, resistant, stout, strong), robust (bouncing, Hale, Hardy, hefty, iron, lusty, red blooded, robust, rude, rugged, stalwart, stout, strapping, strong, strong-limbed, sturdy, well knit), solid (awfully, big, deep, durable, enduring, fast, firm, firmly, hard, hard and fast, hefty, massive, massy, portly, profound, reliable, rocky, rugged, safe, secure, serious, solid, solidly, sound, soundly, Square, stable, sterling, stiff, stout, strapping, strong, tenable, well knit), greu (annoying, arduous, awkward, burden, burdensome, busy, clumsy, dangerously, difficult, difficulty, fatiguing, gravely, grievous, hard, hardly, heavily, heavy, inconvenient, labored, laborious, laboured, leaden, lot, massive, massy, near, onerous, oppressive, painful, parlous, precarious, punitive, reluctantly, scarcely, seriously, severe, solid, stiff, stodgy, stolid, strenuous, stuffy, ticklish, toilful, troublesome, trying, uneasy, uphill, wearisome, weary, weight, weighty). (various references)

Russian 

жесткий (bristly, chewy, get-tough, hard, hard and fast, harsh, ironclad, leathery, rigid, stiff). (various references)

Scottish

righinn (adhesive, elastic, flexible; dilatory, pliant). (various references)

Serbo-Croatian

vitalan (vital), žilav (sinewy, wiry). (various references)

Spanish

tenaz (grasping, obstinate, steadfast, stiff, stubborn, sturdy, tenacious, unrelenting), pendenciero (quarreler, quarreller, quarrelsome, rambunctious, rowdy, squabbler). (various references)

Swedish

seg (dogged, gluey, leathery, ropy, rubbery, viscous, wiry). (various references)

Turkish

zorlu (formidable, intractable, mighty, redoubtable, robust, rugged, sticky, stiff, stringent, sweaty, thorny), sert kimse, sert (acrid, adamant, astringent, austere, bad, bitter, boisterous, bossy, brisk, brutal, cast iron, crusty, cutting, drastic, exact, exacting, fierce, firm, flinty, forbidding, get-tough, granitic, grim, gruff, gusty, hard, hard and fast, hard bitten, hard line, hard set, hardening, hard-hitting, harsh, heady, heavy, heavy-handed, hot, ill natured, inclement, incompressible, inelastic, intemperate, iron, ironclad, keen, nappy, pointed, pungent, rigid, rigorous, rough, round, sclerous, severe, sharp, sharp-set, short, short-spoken, shrewd, smart, solid, sound, spanking, spartan, spiky, stand up, starched, starchy, stark, stern, stiff, strict, stringent, strong, surly, tart, unbending, ungentle, unkind, unrelenting, unshaded, unyielding, vehement, violent), sağlam (able bodied, bankable, bouncing, calculable, cast iron, consolidated, dyed in grain, fast, firm, flat-footed, foolproof, foursquare, gilt-edged, good, granitic, Hale, hard, healthy, hearty, indissoluble, invulnerable, lusty, responsible, rugged, runproof, safe, scatheless, secure, secured, solid, sound, stable, stalwart, stanch, staunch, steady, steely, stout, strong, sturdy, substantial, substantive, sure, unfaltering, unshakable, unshaken, valid, whole), kabadayı (blusterer, bulldozer, bully, Hector, hoodlum, hooligan, rapscallion, rough, roughneck, rowdy, ruffian, swashbuckler, toughie, villain), dayanıklı (cast iron, consolidated, durable, enduring, fast, firm, for hard wear, gritty, hard, Hardy, heavy duty, impervious, impregnable, indestructible, invulnerable, keeping, lasting, long lasting, nonperishable, patient, proof, refractory, resistant, resistant to, resolute, runproof, sedulous, serviceable, sturdy, substantial, substantive, supportable, unfading, wiry), baş belâsı (a thorn in the flesh, a thorn in the side, annoyance, bother, confounded, headache, hellbender, nuisance, old man of the sea, pain in the neck, pestilent, pestilential, stiff, tease, troublemaker, troublesome), çetin (arduous, difficult, dingdong, hard, robust, rugged, stiff). (various references)

Turkmen 

gaяym (firm). (various references)

Ukrainian

твердий (callous, choky, consistent, coriaceous, crisp, crusty, deep-seated, firm, hard, hard and fast, resolute, settled, solid, staunch, steadfast, stern, strong), головоріз (cutthroat), в'язкий (adherent, clammy, glutinous, ropy, smeary), міцний (abiding, able bodied, bastard, beefy, buirdly, deep, endurable, enduring, entrenched, fast, firm, full-bodied, lasting, lusty, oaky, racy, sledge hammer, stable, stalwart, staunch, stiff, stout, strong, sturdy, substantial, substantive, tenacious, wakeless, well knit). (various references)

Vietnamese 

tên vô lại (ruffian, scoundrel), tên kẻ cướp, ngoan cố khó, hắc búa (spiny, thorny), dai (tenacious), cứng cỏi (strong-minded, strong-willed), cố chấp (persistent, pertaincious, self-opinionated, self-opinioned), bất khuất khăng khăng, bền dai sức, ương ngạnh (hard-handed, headstrong, pertaincious, stiff-necked, unadvisable, unamenable, wayward, wrong-headed). (various references)

Welsh

gwydn. (various references)

durus, lentis, lento, lentus. (various references)

Derivations

Words beginning with "tough": toughed, toughen, toughened, toughening, toughens, tougher, toughest, toughie, toughies, toughing, toughish, toughly, toughness, toughnesses, toughs, toughy. (additional references)

Misspellings

"Tough" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: Etoughe, gough, kough, mough, nough, ough, stough, taugh, Tcoff, teugh, tiough, tiugh, togh, toosh, Torughu, toug, touge, tought, toughy, toung, touth, tuoh, Tuuth, vough, zough. (additional references)

Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits.

Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams

Direct Anagrams: ought.

-1 letter: gout, thou, thug.

-2 letters: got, gut, hog, hot, hug, hut, out, tho, tog, tug, ugh.

-3 letters: go, ho, oh, to, uh, ut.

+1 letter: bought, dought, fought, hognut, nought, oughts, sought,