Tough - Definition

adj 1: not given to gentleness or sentimentality; "a tough
character" [ant: tender]
2: very difficult; severely testing stamina or resolution; "a
rugged competitive examination"; "the rugged conditions of
frontier life"; "the competition was tough"; "it's a tough
life"; "it was a tough job" [syn: rugged, tough]
3: physically toughened; "the tough bottoms of his feet" [syn:
tough, toughened] [ant: tender, untoughened]
4: substantially made or constructed; "sturdy steel shelves";
"sturdy canvas"; "a tough all-weather fabric"; "some plastics
are as tough as metal" [syn: sturdy, tough]
5: violent and lawless; "the more ruffianly element"; "tough
street gangs" [syn: ruffianly, tough]
6: feeling physical discomfort or pain (`tough' is occasionally
used colloquially for `bad'); "my throat feels bad"; "she
felt bad all over"; "he was feeling tough after a restless
night" [syn: bad, tough]
7: resistant to cutting or chewing [ant: tender]
8: unfortunate or hard to bear; "had hard luck"; "a tough break"
[syn: hard, tough]
9: making great mental demands; hard to comprehend or solve or
believe; "a baffling problem"; "I faced the knotty problem of
what to have for breakfast"; "a problematic situation at
home" [syn: baffling, elusive, knotty, problematic,
problematical, tough]
n 1: someone who learned to fight in the streets rather than
being formally trained in the sport of boxing [syn: street
fighter, tough]
2: an aggressive and violent young criminal [syn: hood,
hoodlum, goon, punk, thug, tough, toughie,
strong-armer]
3: a cruel and brutal fellow [syn: bully, tough, hooligan,
ruffian, roughneck, rowdy, yob, yobo, yobbo]