# tough
## English
### Etymology

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 Proto-Indo-European *denḱ- (“to bite”).
Cognate with Scots teuch (“tough”), tūch (“tough”), Dutch taai (“tough”), Low German tage, taag, taë, taa (“tough”), German zäh (“tough”), dialectal German zach (“tough; boring”).

### Pronunciation

* (Received Pronunciation, General American) IPA: /tʌf/
** Audio (US):(file)
* (General Australian, New Zealand) IPA: /tɐf/
* (Northern England) IPA: /tʊf/
* Rhymes: -ʌf
* Homophone: tuff

### Adjective

tough (comparative tougher, superlative toughest)
* (of a material) Strong and resilient; sturdy.
    Synonyms: robust, stout; see also Thesaurus:hard
    The tent, made of tough canvas, held up to many abuses.
* (of food) Difficult to cut or chew.
    Synonym: unchewable
    To soften a tough cut of meat, the recipe suggested simmering it for hours.
* (of a person or animal) Rugged or physically hardy.
    Synonyms: hardy, robust, vigorous
    Only a tough species will survive in the desert.
** 2010, Brian Lovett, Hunting Tough Turkeys, Stackpole Books, page 3:But before you quit turkey hunting and take up model-train collecting, let me give you the good news: you can score on tough turkeys. In fact, you can kill the toughest turkey in the woods.
* (of a person) Stubborn or persistent; capable of stubbornness or persistence.
    Synonyms: hardheaded, tenacious; see also Thesaurus:obstinate
    He had a reputation as a tough negotiator.
* (of weather, etc.) Harsh or severe.
    Synonym: inclement
* Rowdy or rough.
    Synonyms: disorderly, unruly
    A bunch of the tough boys from the wrong side of the tracks threatened him.
* (of questions, etc.) Difficult or demanding.
    Synonyms: challenging, hard; see also Thesaurus:difficult
    This is a tough crowd.
** 1998, Lois Liederman Davitz, Joel Robert Davitz, 20 Tough Questions Teenagers Ask and 20 Tough Answers, Paulist Press, pages 6-7,
    But let's get back to the tough question about sex before marriage. And this is a tough question. In fact we would rank the question you've both raised as pretty high on our list of tough questions.
** 2012, BioWare, Mass Effect 3 (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →OCLC, PC, scene: Earth:Anderson: We fought hard to get here. But now the toughest part of our mission begins. Anderson: We've got to drive right through the heart of Reaper-controlled territory, break past their defenses, and get to that beacon.
** 2010, Rushworth M. Kidder, Good Kids, Tough Choices, Wiley (Jossey-Bass), page 96,
    What Lara faced, in fact, falls right into the pool of light beneath our second lens: making tough choices.
* (material science) Undergoing plastic deformation before breaking.
* Strict, not lenient.
    Synonyms: harsh, strict; see also Thesaurus:stern
    tough on crime
** 2024 January 27, Priscilla Alvarez, “Biden seizes on tougher border measures as he tries to fend off Trump attacks”, in CNN‎:President Joe Biden is embracing tougher border measures, including shutting down the US-Mexico border, marking a stark shift from his early days in office as he tries to fend off former President Donald Trump’s attacks on immigration policy ahead of the election.

#### Derived terms

* do it tough
* hang tough
* semitough
* supertough
* tough act to follow
* tough ask
* tough as nails
* tough as old boots
* tough as teak
* tough bananas
* tough break
* tough-cake
* tough call
* tough case
* tough cookie
* tough cookies
* tough crowd
* toughen
* tough going
* tough guy
* tough-guy
* tough-guyness
* toughie
* toughish
* tough love
* tough-love
* tough luck
* toughly
* tough-minded
* toughness
* tough noogies
* tough nut
* tough nut to crack
* tough on crime
* tough pill to swallow
* tough-pitch
* tough road to hoe
* tough row to hoe
* tough sell
* tough shit
* tough-skinned
* tough sledding
* tough tacos
* tough tarts
* tough times
* tough titties
* tough titty
* tough titty said the kitty
* tough toenails
* tough toodles
* tough tooshie
* tough tuchus
* tough tushie
* toughy
* ultratough
* when the going gets tough, the tough get going

#### Descendants

* → German: taff
* → Swedish: tuff

#### Translations
### Interjection

tough
* (slang) Used to indicate lack of sympathy
    If you don't like it, tough!

#### Translations
### Noun

tough (plural toughs)
* A person who obtains things by force; a thug or bully.
    They were doing fine until they encountered a bunch of toughs from the opposition.
** 2018, Sandeep Jauhar, Heart: a History, →ISBN, page 54:He was in his early fifties, extensively tattooed, just the sort of tough I wouldn't want to meet alone in a parking lot at night, but right then he was whimpering.

#### Translations

    The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

### Verb

tough (third-person singular simple present toughs, present participle toughing, simple past and past participle toughed)
* To endure.
** 2009, Paul Walsh, You and I and Others, →ISBN, pages 64 - 65:We shall reminisce on how we toughed it through the winters as they reached the firm, long arm around to give the cold embrace, with ardor seldom loosed till warm winds Marched or Apriled in to soften winter's knuckles -- send rivulets of courage down to dandelions and tulips.
** 2011, Henry David Thoreau, Damion Searls, The Journal of Henry David Thoreau, 1837-1861, →ISBN, page 254:“No,” said Minott, “I've toughed it through the winter, and i want to stay and hear the bluebirds once more.
** 2012, Jerry Hopkins -, Extreme Cuisine: The Weird and Wonderful Foods That People Eat, →ISBN:Universal Plant Edibility Test The following sounds like a lot of work—it is!—but that's because it comes from the US Army Survival Manual as republished in 1994 as "a civilian's best guide for toughing it, anyplace in the world...a must for campers, hikers, explorers, pilots, and others whose vocation or avocations require familiarity with the wilderness or out-of-doors..."
* To toughen.

#### Derived terms

* tough out,tough it out

#### Translations
### Anagrams

* ought

## German
### Etymology

Borrowed from English tough; see also German taff.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /taf/
* Audio:(file)

### Adjective

tough (strong nominative masculine singular tougher, comparative tougher, superlative am toughsten or am toughesten)
* (slang) Alternative form of taff (“tough; robust; assertive and not overly sensitive”)

#### Declension
### Further reading

* “tough” in Duden online
* “tough” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache

## Middle English
### Noun

tough
* Alternative form of tow