tough

Meanings

Adjective

• Strong and resilient; sturdy.
• Difficult to cut or chew.
• Rugged or physically hardy.
• Stubborn.
• Harsh or severe.
• Rowdy or rough.
• Difficult or demanding.
• Undergoing plastic deformation before breaking.

Noun

• A person who obtains things by force; a thug or bully.

Verb

• To endure.
• To toughen.

Origin

• From Middle English tough, towgh, tou, toȝ, from Old English tōh, from Proto-West Germanic *tą̄h(ī), from Proto-Germanic *tanhuz, from Proto-Indo-European *denḱ- ("to bite").
• Cognate with Scots teuch ("tough"), tuch, Dutch taai ("tough"), Low German tage, taag, taë, taa, German zäh ("tough"), dialectal German zach.