tough

adjective (DIFFICULT)

/tʌf/

Definition

B2 difficult to do or to deal with: They've had an exceptionally tough life. They will be a tough team to beat. The company is going through a tough time at the moment. We've had to make some very tough decisions. My boss has given me a tough job/assignment. Many homeless people are facing a tough winter.Complicated and difficult to doDifficult to understand toughly

/ˈtʌf.li/ adverb › These boots are very toughly (= strongly) made. The newspaper published a toughly worded article about racist behaviour. We live in a toughly competitive world.Physically strong and powerful toughness

/ˈtʌf.nəs/ C2 She has a reputation for toughness (= being strong and determined). They can't face the toughness of the competition.ComplexityDifficult to understandPower and intensityEnergy, force and power

(Definition of tough adjective (DIFFICULT) from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

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