tough

tough is a 5-letter English word with 17 senses as noun and adjective in the JumbleFix dictionary. One common meaning is: Having the quality of flexibility without brittleness; yielding to force without breaking; capable of resisting great strain; as, the ligaments of animals are remarkably tough. Face value is 9 in Scrabble and 10 in Words With Friends. Use the entries below when you need a playable sense, a nearby word, or another arrangement of the same letters.

5 letters · Scrabble 9 · Words With Friends 10 · 17 senses

Definitions

1. superlative. Having the quality of flexibility without brittleness; yielding to force without breaking; capable of resisting great strain; as, the ligaments of animals are remarkably tough.
2. superlative. Not easily broken; able to endure hardship; firm; strong; as, tough sinews.
3. superlative. Not easily separated; viscous; clammy; tenacious; as, tough phlegm.
4. superlative. Stiff; rigid; not flexible; stubborn; as, a tough bow.
5. superlative. Severe; violent; as, a tough storm.
6. noun. a cruel and brutal fellow

   Synonyms: bully, hooligan, roughneck, rowdy, ruffian, yob, yobbo, yobo

7. noun. an aggressive and violent young criminal

   Synonyms: goon, hood, hoodlum, punk, thug, toughie

8. noun. someone who learned to fight in the streets rather than being formally trained in the sport of boxing
9. adjective. feeling physical discomfort or pain (`tough' is occasionally used colloquially for `bad')

   "my throat feels bad"

   "she felt bad all over"

   Synonyms: bad

10. adjective. substantially made or constructed

    "sturdy steel shelves"

    "sturdy canvas"

    Synonyms: sturdy

11. adjective. making great mental demands; hard to comprehend or solve or believe

    "a baffling problem"

    "I faced the knotty problem of what to have for breakfast"

    Synonyms: baffling, elusive, knotty, problematic, problematical

12. adjective. very difficult; severely testing stamina or resolution

    "a rugged competitive examination"

    "the rugged conditions of frontier life"

    Synonyms: rugged

13. adjective. unfortunate or hard to bear

    "had hard luck"

    "a tough break"

    Synonyms: hard

14. adjective. resistant to cutting or chewing
15. adjective. physically toughened

    "the tough bottoms of his feet"

    Synonyms: toughened

16. adjective. not given to gentleness or sentimentality

    "a tough character"

17. adjective. violent and lawless

    "the more ruffianly element"

    "tough street gangs"

    Synonyms: ruffianly

Synonyms

bully, hooligan, roughneck, rowdy, ruffian, yob, yobbo, yobo, goon, hood, hoodlum, punk, thug, toughie, bad, sturdy, baffling, elusive, knotty, problematic, problematical, rugged, hard, toughened

Anagrams

Other playable words that use exactly the letters in tough:

ought

Common word forms

toughs, toughed, toughen, tougher, toughly, toughest, toughing, toughness

Words from these letters

If you are holding these tiles, the unscrambler for TOUGH lists every valid word you can make from the same letters, including shorter plays.