Nearby Words

toughness

Origin

tough

[tuhf] ,adjective, -er, -est, adverb, noun, verb
adjective
1.
strong and durable; not easily broken or cut.
2.
not brittle or tender.
3.
difficult to masticate, as food: a tough steak.
4.
of viscous consistency, as liquid or semiliquid matter: tough molasses.
5.
capable of great endurance; sturdy; hardy: tough troops.
EXPAND
6.
not easily influenced, as a person; unyielding; stubborn: a tough man to work for.
7.
hardened; incorrigible: a tough criminal.
8.
difficult to perform, accomplish, or deal with; hard, trying, or troublesome: a tough problem.
9.
hard to bear or endure (often used ironically): tough luck.
10.
vigorous; severe; violent: a tough struggle.
11.
vicious; rough; rowdyish: a tough character; a tough neighborhood.
12.
practical, realistic, and lacking in sentimentality; tough-minded.
13.
Slang. remarkably excellent; first-rate; great.
COLLAPSE
adverb
14.
in a tough manner.

:10

:09

:08

:07

:06

:05

:04

:03

:02

:01

Toughness is always a great word to know.
So is gobo. Does it mean:
a screen or mat covered with a dark material for shielding a camera lens from excess light or glare.
a scrap or morsel of food left at a meal.
noun
15.
a ruffian; rowdy.
16.
hang tough, Slang. hang (def. 56).
17.
tough it out, Informal. to endure or resist hardship or adversity.

Origin:
before 900; Middle English (adj.); Old English tōh; compare Dutch taai, German zäh(e)

tough·ly, adverb
tough·ness, noun
su·per·tough, adjective
un·tough, adjective
un·tough·ly, adverb
EXPAND
un·tough·ness, noun
COLLAPSE


1. firm, hard. 5. durable. 6. inflexible.


1. fragile. 5. feeble, weak.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
Cite This Source Link To toughness
Collins
World English Dictionary
toughness (ˈtʌfnɪs)
 
n
1.  the quality or an instance of being tough
2.  metallurgy brittleness See softness the ability of a metal to withstand repeated twisting and bending, measured by the energy in kilojoules needed to break it

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source
Etymonline
Word Origin & History

tough
O.E. toh "difficult to break or chew," from P.Gmc. *tankhuz (cf. M.L.G. tege, M.Du. taey, Du. taai, O.H.G. zach, Ger. zäh). See rough for spelling change. Figurative sense of "strenuous, difficult, hard to beat" is first recorded c.1200; that of "hard to do, trying, laborious" is from 1619. The
EXPAND
noun meaning "street ruffian" (U.S.) is from 1866. Toughen is attested from 1580s. Verb tough it "endure the experience" is first recorded 1830, Amer.Eng. Tough guy first recorded 1932. Tough-minded first recorded 1907 in William James. Tough luck first recorded 1912; tough shit is from 1946.
COLLAPSE
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Cite This Source
Dictionary.com, LLC. Copyright © 2012. All rights reserved.
  • Please Login or Sign Up to use the Recent Searches feature