adj. 1 hard, firm, durable, long-lasting, wear-resistant, substantial, strong, stout, rugged, sturdy, sound, well-built Only one kind of material is tough enough to endure such conditions for so long 2 stiff, hard, leathery, inflexible, chewy, fibrous, cartilaginous, sinewy, ropy, wiry, stringy That steak was as tough as shoe-leather 3 strong, stalwart, brawny, burly, muscular, powerful, virile, manly, sturdy, doughty, intrepid, stout, rough, vigorous, strapping, athletic Two tough-looking characters moved towards us, so we left 4 difficult, demanding, exacting, hard, troublesome; laborious, taxing, strenuous We deal with tough complaints every day It's a tough job. 5 baffling, thorny, puzzling, perplexing, mystifying, knotty, irksome, difficult The examiners asked us some very tough questions 6 stubborn, hardened, inured, obstinate, obdurate, hard, harsh, severe, stern, inflexible, refractory, intractable, adamant, unyielding, ungiving, rigid, unbending, unsentimental, unfeeling, unsympathetic, callous, hard-boiled, uncaring, cold, cool, icy, stony, Colloq hard-nosed He's a tough man to work for, but he's fair
interj. 7 Colloq Too bad!, Tough luck!, Hard luck!, Brit Hard cheese!, Slang Tough titty!, Taboo slang Tough shit! When I told him that my money had been stolen, he said 'Tough!'
n. 8 bruiser, hooligan, bully (boy), rowdy, thug, ruffian, Colloq roughneck, bruiser, tough guy, gorilla A couple of toughs who had been threatening the cashier disappeared when they saw our uniforms