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Glite Dictionary
🧩 Difficult 🛡️ Emotionally strong 😠 Aggressive or violent 💪 Strong or durable 🏋️ To endure 🥩 Hard to chew 🥊 A violent person 🤒 Feeling bad
tough

tough

1 6.9
Feeling physically unwell or in pain
  • adjective
  • /tʌf/
  • Informal
: indispuesto
  • I think it's tough too, if you're feeling depressed.
  • feel tough

Examples

  • After the accident, he mentioned that it was a tough recovery process.

  • Two hours is really getting a little tough on my system.

    Academic text (2007)

  • I have a tough time these days getting peace.

  • It's Saturday, it's the next day and I had a really tough mom morning.

  • And when I go there, you know, it's been a tough day.

  • And as the years went by, it started to get really tough for me.

  • I helped you through the tough times.

    Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut (2006)

  • I know the weather here in Colorado has been tough for me.

    Blog text (10)

  • And I was searching this out because I had a really tough time dealing with my grandmother dying.

  • Honestly, it's tough having kids when you don't feel well.

    Blog text (14)

Synonyms

rough
vstough
631 3.0

Hard and severe, causing problems or danger

describes physical discomfort or pain, not harsh conditions or difficulty
bad
vstough
355 1.0

Not working properly or in poor condition

focuses on personal feeling of pain or discomfort rather than technical defect
tender
vstough
36 3.4

Sore when touched or moved

is an informal general feeling of physical discomfort rather than local sensitivity
hurty
vstough
  • Baby Talk
1 8.7

Feeling sore and in pain after a fall or bump

is an informal general feeling of physical discomfort not childlike

Antonyms

well
665 1.0

In good health after being ill or hurt

comfortable
488 1.0

Not feeling pain or physical discomfort

Idioms

tough luck
  • Informal
17 4.9

A short comment that says whether you feel sorry for someone's bad luck

tough as nails
  • Informal
11 7.1

Someone who can deal with hard things and stay calm

tough titty
  • Offensive
2 9.9

A short rude reply showing you do not care about someone's problem

to acting all tough
  • Informal
2 8.2

Pretending to be strong to impress others or hide fear

Compounds

tough guy
  • Informal
186 4.2

A man who acts strong to scare people

tough love
39 4.5

A strict way of caring that helps someone improve

tough job
38 3.4

A difficult task that needs a lot of effort

tough break
  • Informal
23 5.8

An unlucky event that makes things harder for someone

tough call
  • Informal
23 5.3

A difficult choice when two options are equally hard

tough game
12 3.0

A match that is very hard to win

tough going
  • Informal
7 5.3

A situation or task that is hard to do

tough customer
  • Informal
6 5.3

A person who is hard to deal with or persuade when making a deal

tough experience
2 3.9

A difficult time that is hard to get through

tough-skinned
1 4.3

Has a hard outer skin that does not break easily

tough workout
1 3.0

A hard set of exercises that makes you very tired

How Unwell

bedridden
13 4.5
sick
17 1.0
tough
  • Informal
1 6.9
unwell
18 1.0
well
665 1.0

Surface Forms

tough positive

Etymology

Tough comes from an old English word toh meaning 'strong' or 'hard'. A helpful way to remember the informal sense 'feeling bad' is to think of being hit by hard times, so you feel worn out or tough for a while.