Home Synonyms tough

Synonyms of tough in English:

tough


See US English definition of tough

See UK English definition of tough

See Spanish definition of resistente

adjective

1‘they had tough leather gloves’

SYNONYMS
durable, strong, resilient, resistant, sturdy, rugged, firm, solid, substantial, sound, stout, indestructible, unbreakable, hard, rigid, stiff, inflexible, toughened
hard-wearing, long-lasting, heavy-duty, well built, made to last
ANTONYMS

soft, fragile, flimsy

2‘the hastily prepared steak was tough’

SYNONYMS
chewy, leathery, gristly, stringy, fibrous, sinewy, cartilaginous
ANTONYMS

tender

3‘he must have been a tough little lad to have survived it all’

SYNONYMS
resilient, strong, hardy, gritty, determined, resolute, dogged, stalwart
rugged, fit, robust, powerful, red-blooded, doughty
hardened, cynical, hard-bitten
informal hard, tough as old boots, as tough as old boots
ANTONYMS

weak, sentimental

4‘he conceded the need for tough sentencing’

SYNONYMS
strict, stern, severe, hard, harsh, firm, hard-hitting, adamant, inflexible, unyielding, unbending, uncompromising, unsentimental, unsympathetic
merciless, ruthless, callous, hard-hearted, uncaring, cold, cool, stony, stony-hearted, flinty
informal hard-nosed, hard-boiled
North American informal badass
ANTONYMS

soft, light

5‘a tough area of London’

SYNONYMS
rough, rowdy, unruly, disorderly, violent, wild, lawless, lawbreaking, criminal
vicious, callous, hardened

6‘my father had a tough job underground’

SYNONYMS
arduous, onerous, difficult, demanding, hard, heavy, taxing, burdensome, tiring, exhausting, punishing, wearying, fatiguing, laborious, strenuous, exacting, troublesome, formidable, stressful, Herculean
rare toilsome, exigent
ANTONYMS

easy

7‘their book raises tough questions for American policymakers’

SYNONYMS
difficult, hard, knotty, thorny, baffling, tricky, ticklish, prickly, perplexing, puzzling, mystifying, troublesome, bothersome, irksome, intractable
ANTONYMS

easy

8‘the tough way of life of a fisherman’

SYNONYMS
harsh, hard, austere, rigorous, rugged, spartan, bleak, grim, straitened, forbidding, cruel, savage, hostile, unfriendly, dark, dire, rough, taxing, exacting, disagreeable, unpleasant, awful
ANTONYMS

easy

9‘they had tough luck when a shot bounced off the crossbar’

SYNONYMS
unfortunate, unlucky, hard, unpleasant, regrettable, distressing
informal too bad
ANTONYMS

good, lucky


noun

1‘a gang of toughs’

SYNONYMS
ruffian, rowdy, thug, hoodlum, hooligan, brute, bully, bully boy, rough, gangster, desperado
informal hard man, roughneck, yob, yobbo, heavy, bruiser, tough guy, toughie, gorilla, yahoo
North American informal hood
Australian, New Zealand informal hoon