B2adjective · frequent

tough

tough · tougher · toughest

твердий, важкий, міцний

жёсткий, прочный

zäh, widerstandsfähig

Of a material, strong and resilientOf a material, strong and resilient; sturdy.

ⓘⓘ

/tʌf/

» That's a tough question to answer.

На це запитання складно відповісти. — User55521

На це запитання важко відповісти. — deniko

CK · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FR

Meaning

10 senses

Of a material, strong and resilient; sturdy.
The tent, made of tough canvas, held up to many abuses.
Of food, difficult to cut or chew.
To soften a tough cut of meat, the recipe suggested simmering it for hours.
zäh
жёсткийžóstkij
(figuratively)Of a person or animal, rugged or physically hardy.
Only a tough species will survive in the desert.
widerstandsfähig
physically toughened
(figuratively)Of a person, stubborn or persistent; capable of stubbornness or persistence.
He had a reputation as a tough negotiator.
(informal)Of weather, harsh or severe.
тяжёлыйtjažólyj, тру́дныйtrúdnyj, тя́жкийtjážkij
(figuratively)Rowdy or rough.
A bunch of the tough boys from the wrong side of the tracks threatened him.
(dated, slang)Cool, awesome, great.
(figuratively, informal)Of a question, difficult or demanding.
This is a tough crowd.
2010, Rushworth M. Kidder, Good Kids, Tough Choices, Wiley (Jossey-Bass), page 96, What Lara faced, in fact, falls right into the pool of light beneath our second lens: making tough choices.
knifflig, schwierig
(material)Undergoing plastic deformation before breaking.
zäh
про́чныйpróčnyj
(figuratively, informal)Strict, not lenient.
tough on crime

Examples

951 sentences

That's a tough question to answer.
На це запитання складно відповісти. — User55521
CK · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FR · B2Open on Tatoeba Report a problem
It'll be tough to do that.
Це буде важко зробити. — deniko
CK · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FR · B2Open on Tatoeba Report a problem
Is it going to be tough?
Це буде важко? — deniko
CK · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FR · B2Open on Tatoeba Report a problem
Tom is tough to deal with.
З Томом важко мати справу. — Ahha
CK · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FR · B2Open on Tatoeba Report a problem
Tom had to make a tough decision.
Том має прийняти важке рішення. — Oleksandr_Tahayev
ruТо́му нужно было принять тяжёлое решение. — soweli_Elepanto
CK · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FR · B2Open on Tatoeba Report a problem

Translations

8 languages

Русский

By meaning 3

difficult to chew:

harsh or severe:

material science: undergoing plastic deformation before breaking:

Deutsch

By meaning 3

difficult to chew:

rugged or physically hardy:

difficult or demanding:

Origin

From Middle English tough, towgh, tou, toȝ, from Old English tōh (“tough, tenacious, holdi

From Middle English tough, towgh, tou, toȝ, from Old English tōh (“tough, tenacious, holding fast together; pliant; sticky, glutinous, clammy”), from Proto-West Germanic *tą̄h(ī), from Proto-Germanic *tanhuz (“fitting; clinging; tenacious; tough”), from *tinganą (“to press upon, throng”), from Proto-Indo-European *denḱ- (“to bite”).

Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source

Forms

tougher, toughest

Comparative	tougher Lesson
Superlative	toughest Lesson

regular

Synonyms

129 synonyms

robustC1 concreteB2 firmB1 grimB2 hardA1 solidB1 stiffB2 vigorousB2 tenaciousC2 certainA2 determinedB2 headstrongC1 persistentB2 steadyB1

Close in meaning

physically toughened:toughened
feeling physical discomfort or pain (‘tough’ is occasionally used colloquially for ‘bad’):bad
substantially made or constructed:sturdy
very difficult; severely testing stamina or resolution:rugged
unfortunate or hard to bear:hard
violent and lawless:ruffianly

Antonyms

1 antonyms

tender

Lessons for this word

2 lessons

A2Comparatives — Because it has a comparative form
A2Superlatives — Because it has a superlative form

Collocations

11 patterns

is a tough
had a tough
as tough as
tough decision
a tough decision
a very tough
be tough to
be very tough
to be tough
a tough day
a pretty tough