n. 25B6; adjective
tough leather gloves : DURABLE, strong, resilient, sturdy, rugged, solid, stout, hard-wearing, long-lasting, heavy-duty, well built, made to last.
the steak was tough : CHEWY, leathery, gristly, stringy, fibrous.
he'll survivehe's pretty tough : ROBUST, resilient, strong, hardy, rugged, fit; informal hard, (as) tough as old boots; dated stalwart.
tough sentencing for persistent offenders : STRICT, stern, severe, stringent, rigorous, hard, firm, hard-hitting, uncompromising; unsentimental, unsympathetic.
the training was pretty tough : ARDUOUS, onerous, strenuous, gruelling, exacting, difficult, demanding, hard, heavy, taxing, tiring, exhausting, punishing, laborious, stressful, Herculean; archaic toilsome.
these are tough questions for American policy-makers : DIFFICULT, hard, knotty, thorny, tricky.
soft, weak, easy.
25B6; noun (informal) a gang of toughs : RUFFIAN, thug, hoodlum, hooligan, bully boy; Brit. rough; informal roughneck, heavy, bruiser, gorilla, yahoo; Brit. informal yob, yobbo.