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tough

tough

31 1.7
Hard to cut and chew, often meat or old bread
  • adjective
  • /tʌf/
translation icon : duro
  • If you let them dry out, they're too tough for the strongest teeth.
  • tough to eat
  • tough meat
  • tough steak

So sometimes those little nettles get too big and tough, we can't use them.

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Examples

  • Larvae of this aggressive herbivorous insect have a hearty appetite for tough old melaleuca foliage.

    Academic text (1997)
  • This steak is too tough to chew, so I need to cook it longer.

  • And much of the time, it is entirely too tough to eat.

    Academic text (1992)
  • Really, the skin's a little tough, but the flavor is great.

  • Frida looks up momentarily as she rips off a particularly tough piece of meat.

    Fiction book (1999)
  • After boiling the vegetables, I found the carrots were still quite tough.

  • The leather on this jacket is very tough and can withstand a lot of wear.

Synonyms

chewy
vstough
27 1.0

Hard to bite and break with your teeth because it is tough and a little rubbery

describes general difficulty to cut or chew rather than chewing time
rubbery
vstough
5 3.7

Tough and hard to chew, like overcooked meat or seafood

is the broad sense of being hard to cut or chew not mainly elasticity
stringy
vstough
3 4.4

Tough and full of thin fibers that are hard to chew

is general chewing difficulty rather than caused by separate strands
gristly
vstough
1 7.8

Food, especially meat, that has tough parts that are hard to chew

is general sense of being hard to cut or chew rather than specific tissue
sinewy
vstough
1 7.6

Meat with tough bits that are hard to chew

is general chewing difficulty not limited to string-like tissue
fibrous
vstough
1 6.0

Having tough stringy parts that are hard to chew

is broader idea of being hard to cut or chew not only that texture

Antonyms

552 1.0

Easily pressed when you touch it

56 1.0

Easy to cut or chew, not tough

Idioms

tough as nails
  • Informal
10 7.1

Someone who can deal with hard things and stay calm

tough luck
  • Informal
3 4.9

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

tough titty
  • Offensive
1 9.9

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

1 8.2

Pretending to be strong to impress others or hide fear

Compounds

tough guy
  • Informal
143 4.2

A man who acts strong to scare people

31 4.5

A strict way of caring that helps someone improve

29 3.4

A difficult task that needs a lot of effort

tough break
  • Informal
19 5.8

An unlucky event that makes things harder for someone

tough call
  • Informal
19 5.3

A difficult choice when two options are equally hard

6 3.0

A match that is very hard to win

tough going
  • Informal
4 5.3

A situation or task that is hard to do

tough customer
  • Informal
3 5.3

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

A hard set of exercises that makes you very tired

A difficult time that is hard to get through

Has a hard outer skin that does not break easily

How Tough

unchewable
1 7.1
tough
31 1.7
leathery
12 3.9
chewy
27 1.0
firm
30 1.0
tender
56 1.0

Surface Forms

tough positive
tougher comparative
toughest superlative

Etymology

Tough comes from an old English word toh meaning 'strong' or 'hard'. That is why food or material that is hard to cut or chew is described as tough — it is not soft or easy to bite.