💪 A tough person 🧩 A hard task

tuffy

8.8

A difficult task that needs a lot of effort

noun
/ˈtʌfi/

Informal

: desafío

Completing the math homework was a real tuffy for many students.

Examples

Finding a solution to the budget crisis turned out to be quite a tuffy for the committee.
She faced a tuffy when trying to solve the complex riddle.
Let me start with a real tuffy!

She-Devil (1989)

Synonyms

tough job

vstuffy

29 3.4

A difficult task that needs a lot of effort

is used loosely as an informal word for hard tasks

toughie

vstuffy

Informal

4 7.6

A person, question, or thing that is very difficult to deal with

is an informal general word highlighting difficulty rather than specific causes

tough going

vstuffy

Informal

4 5.3

A situation or task that is hard to do

is an informal name for any difficult task or situation

tricky situation

vstuffy

4 3.7

A difficult situation that is hard to deal with

is a broad informal term for difficulty, not limited to complication

snorter

vstuffy

Slang

9.8

A very difficult problem or task that tests your skill

is a casual term for difficulty without technical detail

deuce of a challenge

vstuffy

Archaic

9.8

A very difficult and frustrating task

is the informal general term for a hard problem or task

doozy of a challenge

vstuffy

Informal

9.0

A very difficult task that needs a lot of effort

is the casual word for any hard task, not only extreme ones

thorny challenge

vstuffy

7.4

A difficult problem that needs careful handling

is the informal tag for difficulty, not emphasizing careful handling

knotty issue

vstuffy

6.8

A difficult problem that is hard to solve

is a casual word for difficulty without stressing complex structure

knotty situation

vstuffy

7.7

A difficult problem with no easy solution

is an informal term for difficulty, not focused on analytic complexity

Antonyms

easy

∞ 1.0

Not hard to do, understand, or achieve

breeze

Informal

33 2.1

An easy thing to do

How Difficult

nightmare

Informal

640 3.5

toughie

Informal

4 7.6

tuffy

Informal

8.8

challenge

∞ 3.1

problem

∞ 1.2

task

∞ 1.0

Surface Forms

tuffy singular

tuffies plural

Morphology

tuffy = tough (transparent) = tough + y

This is a regular informal noun formation from 'tough', used for something that is tough or difficult.

Etymology

Tuffy comes from the common word tough, meaning 'difficult' or 'hard', with the ending -y that turns it into a name for a thing. So a tuffy is a hard problem or challenge that takes a lot of effort to solve.