tough
noun
1 tough
Someone who learned to fight in the streets rather than being formally trained in the sport of boxing.
synonym: street fighter.
2 tough
3 tough
A cruel and brutal fellow.
synonyms: bully, hooligan, roughneck, rowdy, ruffian, yob, yobbo, yobo.
Roget 949:
bad man,
wrongdoer,
worker of iniquity;
evildoer
etc.
913;
sinner;
the wicked
etc.
945;
bad example.
villain,
rascal,
scoundrel,
miscreant,
budmash†,
caitiff†;
wretch,
reptile,
viper,
serpent,
cockatrice,
basilisk,
urchin;
tiger†,
monster;
devil
etc.
(demon)
980;
devil incarnate;
demon in human shape,
Nana Sahib;
hellhound,
hellcat;
rakehell†.
bad woman,
jade,
Jezebel.
scamp,
scapegrace,
rip,
runagate,
ne'er-do-well,
reprobate,
scalawag,
scallawag.
rou_e [Fr.],
rake;
Sadist;
skeesicks [Slang],
skeezix [U.S.];
limb;
one who has sold himself to the devil,
fallen angel,
ame damnee [Fr.],
vaurien†,
mauvais sujet [Fr.],
loose fish,
sad dog;
rounder [Slang];
lost sheep,
black sheep;
castaway,
recreant,
defaulter;
prodigal
etc.
818.
rough,
rowdy,
hooligan,
tough,
ugly customer,
mean mother [Coll.],
ruffian,
bully,
meanie [Joc.];
Jonathan Wild;
hangman.
incendiary,
arsonist,
fire bug [U.S.].
thief
etc.
792;
murderer,
terrorist
etc.
361.
[person who violates the criminal law]
culprit,
delinquent,
crook,
hoodlum,
hood,
criminal,
thug,
malefactor,
offender,
perpetrator,
perp [Coll.];
disorderly person,
misdemeanant [Law];
outlaw;
scofflaw;
vandal;
felon,
(convicted criminal);
criminal;
convict,
prisoner,
inmate,
jail bird,
ticket of leave man;
multiple offender.
blackguard,
polisson†,
loafer,
sneak;
rapscallion,
rascallion†;
cullion†,
mean wretch,
varlet,
kern†,
ame-de-boue [Fr.],
drole†;
cur,
dog,
hound†,
whelp†,
mongrel†;
lown†,
loon,
runnion†,
outcast,
vagabond;
rogue
etc.
(knave)
941;
ronian†;
scum of the earth,
riffraff;
Arcades ambo†.
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Dutch: barbaar, beest, beestmens, beul, bloedhond, bruut, bullebak, hooligan, kwelduivel, kwelgeest, monster, nero, onmens, pestkop, plaag, plaagal, plaaggeest, plaagstok, sar, schelm, schurk, treiteraar, wreedaard ... show more
Polish: bandyta, oprych, opryszek, rzezimieszek, zbir
adjective
1 tough
Not given to gentleness or sentimentality.
Roget 46:
cohesive,
adhesive,
adhering,
cohering
etc.
v.;
tenacious,
tough;
sticky
etc.
352.
united,
unseparated,
unsessile†,
inseparable,
inextricable,
infrangible†;
compact
etc.
(dense)
321.
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Roget 327:
tenacious,
tough,
strong,
resisting,
sequacious†,
stringy,
gristly cartilaginous,
leathery,
coriaceous†,
tough as whitleather†;
stubborn
etc.
(obstinate)
606.
unbreakable,
indivisible;
atomic.
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2 tough
Very difficult; severely testing stamina or resolution:
— The competition was tough.
— It's a tough life.
— It was a tough job.
synonym: rugged.
Roget 704:
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.
difficult to deal with,
hard to deal with;
ill-conditioned,
crabbed,
crabby;
not to be handled with kid gloves,
not made with rose water.
awkward,
unwieldy,
unmanageable;
intractable,
stubborn
etc.
(obstinate)
606;
perverse,
refractory,
plaguy†,
trying,
thorny,
rugged;
knotted,
knotty;
invious†;
pathless,
trackless;
labyrinthine
etc.
(convoluted)
248;
intricate,
complicated
etc.
(tangled)
59;
impracticable
etc.
(impossible)
471;
not feasible
etc.
470;
desperate
etc.
(hopeless)
859.
embarrassing,
perplexing
etc.
(uncertain)
475;
delicate,
ticklish,
critical;
beset with difficulties,
full of difficulties,
surrounded by difficulties,
entangled by difficulties,
encompassed with difficulties.
under a difficulty;
in a box;
in difficulty,
in hot water,
in the suds,
in a cleft stick,
in a fix,
in the wrong box,
in a scrape
etc.
n.,
in deep water,
in a fine pickle;
in extremis;
between two stools,
between Scylla and Charybdis;
surrounded by shoals,
surrounded by breakers,
surrounded by quicksands;
at cross purposes;
not out of the wood.
reduced to straits;
hard pressed,
sorely pressed;
run hard;
pinched,
put to it,
straitened;
hard up,
hard put to it,
hard set;
put to one's shifts;
puzzled,
at a loss,
etc.
(uncertain)
475;
at the end of one's tether,
at the end of one's rope,
at one's wit's end,
at a nonplus,
at a standstill;
graveled,
nonplused,
nonplussed,
stranded,
aground;
stuck fast,
set fast;
up a tree,
at bay,
aux abois [Fr.],
driven into a corner,
driven from pillar to post,
driven to extremity,
driven to one's wit's end,
driven to the wall;
au bout de son Latin;
out of one's depth;
thrown out.
accomplished with difficulty;
hard-fought,
hard-earned.
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Polish: bezlitosny, nielitościwy
3 tough
Physically toughened:
— The tough bottoms of his feet.
synonym: toughened.
4 tough
Substantially made or constructed:
— A tough all-weather fabric.
— Some plastics are as tough as metal.
synonym: sturdy.
5 tough
Violent and lawless:
— Tough street gangs.
synonym: ruffianly.
6 tough
Feeling physical discomfort or pain (`tough' is occasionally used colloquially for `bad'):
— He was feeling tough after a restless night.
synonym: bad.
7 tough
Resistant to cutting or chewing.
8 tough
Unfortunate or hard to bear:
— A tough break.
synonym: hard.
Polish: niesłodki
9 tough
Moby thesaurus: Antaeus, Atlas, Briareus, Brobdingnagian, Charles Atlas, Cyclops, Goliath, Herculean, Hercules, Mafioso, OK, Polyphemus, Samson, Spartan, Spartanic, Superman, Tarzan, Titan, Young Turk, abiding, abstruse, ace-high, acute, adamant, adamantine, adherent, adhesive, age-long, aged, amylaceous, ancient, antique, arbitrary, arduous, astringent, athletic, austere, authoritarian, backbreaking, bad, baffling, bang-up, battler, beast, beldam, belligerent, belted knight, berserk, berserker, beyond one, bickerer, blade, bomber, bony, bonzer, boss, bravo, brawler, brawny, bruiser, brutal, brute, bulky, bulldogged, bulldoggish, bulldoggy, bullheaded, bully, bullyboy, burdensome, burly, but good, callous, cartilaginous, cement, cemental, chewy, chronic, clabbered, clammy, clingy, clotted, coagulated, cohesive, cold, colossus, combatant, competitor, complex, complicated, concrete, confirmed, constant, contender, contestant, continuing, cool, coriaceous, corking, corneous, crabbed, crackerjack, cramp, critical, crushing, curdled, cutting, dandy, delicate, delicious, demanding, demon, dense, devil, diamondlike, difficile, difficult, disputant, diuturnal, doughty, doughy, dour, dragon, drastic, ducky, duelist, durable, dure, effortful, enduring, enforcer, evergreen, exacting, excessive, exigent, exorbitant, extravagant, extreme, fab, fencer, feuder, fibrous, fiend, fierce, fighter, fighting cock, fine and dandy, fire-eater, firebrand, firm, fixed, flintlike, flinty, foilsman, forced, formidable, furious, fury, game, gamecock, gamy, garbled, gaumy, gear, gelatinous, giant, gladiator, glairy, gluelike, gluey, glutenous, glutinose, glutinous, gooey, goon, gorilla, granitelike, granitic, great, grim, gristly, gritty, groovy, grueling, grumous, gumbo, gumbolike, gumlike, gummous, gummy, gun, gunsel, gutsy, gutty, hairy, hard, hard as nails, hard to understand, hard-bitten, hard-boiled, hard-earned, hard-fought, hard-line, hard-nosed, hard-set, hardened, hardhearted, hardnose, hardy, harsh, hatchet man, heavy, hefty, hell-raiser, hellcat, hellhound, hellion, holy terror, hood, hoodlum, hooligan, horny, hot, hothead, hotspur, hunky-dory, icy, immoderate, immutable, incendiary, inflexible, inspissated, intemperate, intense, intractable, intransient, intrepid, intricate, inured, inveterate, irksome, iron-hard, ironlike, jam-up, jawbreaking, jelled, jellied, jellylike, jouster, jumbled, just dandy, keen, killer, killing, knight, knotted, knotty, labored, laborious, lapideous, lasting, leatherlike, leathery, lithoid, lithoidal, long-lasting, long-lived, long-standing, long-term, longeval, longevous, macrobiotic, mad dog, madcap, manly, marble, marblelike, marvy, massive, mean, meticulous, mettlesome, militant, monster, mucilaginous, mucker, mug, mugger, muscle man, muscular, mystifying, narrow, neat, nervy, nifty, no picnic, nobby, not easy, obdurate, obfuscated, obscure, obscured, obstinate, of long duration, of long standing, okay, onerous, operose, oppressive, osseous, out of sight, outrageous, overtechnical, painful, pasty, peachy, peachy-keen, perdurable, perduring, perennial, permanent, perpetual, perplexed, perplexing, persistent, persisting, pertinacious, piercing, plucky, plug-ugly, powerful, powerhouse, procrustean, punishing, punk, puzzling, quarreler, rapist, red-blooded, refractory, remaining, resistant, resistive, resolute, revolutionary, rigid, rigorous, rioter, ripping, rival, rocklike, rocky, rodman, ropy, rough, roughneck, rowdy, ruffian, rugged, rum, sabreur, savage, scrambled, scrapper, scrumptious, scuffler, self-adhesive, sempervirent, set with thorns, severe, sharp, she-wolf, sinewy, slabby, slap-up, slimy, slithery, smashing, solid, something else, sound, spiffing, spiffy, spiny, spirited, spiritful, spitfire, splitting, spunky, squabbler, stable, stalwart, starchy, staying, steadfast, steady, steellike, steely, steep, stern, stickable, sticky, stiff, stodgy, stonelike, stony, stout, strained, strapping, strenuous, strict, stringent, stringy, strong, strong arm, strong man, strong-arm man, strong-armer, struggler, stubborn, stunning, sturdy, substantial, swashbuckler, swell, sword, swordplayer, swordsman, syrupy, tacky, taut, taxing, tenacious, termagant, terror, terrorist, the mighty, the strong, thick, thickened, thorny, thug, ticklish, tiger, tigress, tilter, toilsome, torpedo, tough as leather, tough guy, tower of strength, tremelloid, tremellose, tricky, trigger man, troublesome, tussler, ugly customer, unalterable, unbending, unbreakable, uncaring, uncompromising, unconscionable, underprivileged, unfading, unfeeling, ungiving, unsentimental, unsparing, unsympathetic, untiring, unyielding, uphill, vehement, venomous, vigorous, violent, virago, virile, virulent, viscid, viscose, viscous, vital, vixen, wearisome, well-built, well-constructed, well-founded, well-grounded, well-made, wicked, wild beast, wiry, witch, withstanding, wizard, wolf, wrangler, yahoo ... show more.
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