tough

1. Not given to gentleness or sentimentality (synset 302457510)
   "a tough character"
   also:

   • hard - dispassionate
   • insensitive - deficient in human sensibility; not mentally or morally sensitive
   similar to:

   • hard-bitten, hard-boiled, pugnacious - tough and callous by virtue of experience
   • tough-minded, unsentimental - facing facts or difficulties realistically and with determination
2. Very difficult;
   Severely testing stamina or resolution (synset 300751671)
   "a rugged competitive examination"; "the rugged conditions of frontier life"; "the competition was tough"; "it's a tough life"; "it was a tough job"
   similar to: difficult, hard - not easy; requiring great physical or mental effort to accomplish or comprehend or endure
   same as: rugged
3. Physically toughened (synset 302456417)
   "the tough bottoms of his feet"
   also:

   • rugged - sturdy and strong in constitution or construction; enduring
   • experienced, experient - having experience; having knowledge or skill from observation or participation
   • strong - having strength or power greater than average or expected
   similar to:

   • callous, calloused, thickened - having calluses; having skin made tough and thick through wear
   • enured, hardened, inured - made tough by habitual exposure
   • weather-beaten - tanned and coarsened from being outdoors
   same as: toughened
4. Substantially made or constructed (synset 300711239)
   "sturdy steel shelves"; "sturdy canvas"; "a tough all-weather fabric"; "some plastics are as tough as metal"
   similar to: rugged - sturdy and strong in constitution or construction; enduring
   same as: sturdy
5. Violent and lawless (synset 302522699)
   "the more ruffianly element"; "tough street gangs"
   similar to: violent - acting with or marked by or resulting from great force or energy or emotional intensity
   same as: ruffianly
6. Feeling physical discomfort or pain (`tough' is occasionally used colloquially for `bad') (synset 300480301)
   "my throat feels bad"; "she felt bad all over"; "he was feeling tough after a restless night"
   domain usage: colloquialism - a colloquial expression; characteristic of spoken or written communication that seeks to imitate informal speech
   similar to: uncomfortable - providing or experiencing physical discomfort
   same as: bad
7. Resistant to cutting or chewing (synset 302454704)
   also: inedible, uneatable - not suitable for food
   similar to:

   • cartilaginous, gristly, rubbery - difficult to chew
   • chewy - requiring much chewing
   • coriaceous, leathered, leatherlike, leathery - resembling or made to resemble leather; tough but pliable
   • fibrous, sinewy, stringy, unchewable - (of meat) full of sinews; especially impossible to chew
   • fibrous, hempen - having or resembling fibers especially fibers used in making cordage such as those of jute
   • tough-skinned - having a relatively tough outer covering
8. Unfortunate or hard to bear (synset 301131133)
   "had hard luck"; "a tough break"
   similar to: bad - having undesirable or negative qualities
   same as: hard
9. Making great mental demands;
   Hard to comprehend or solve or believe (synset 300750063)
   "a baffling problem"; "I faced the knotty problem of what to have for breakfast"; "a problematic situation at home"
   similar to: difficult, hard - not easy; requiring great physical or mental effort to accomplish or comprehend or endure
   same as: baffling, elusive, knotty, problematic, problematical

1. Someone who learned to fight in the streets rather than being formally trained in the sport of boxing (synset 110682088)
   is a type of: battler, belligerent, combatant, fighter, scrapper - someone who fights (or is fighting)
   same as: street fighter
2. An aggressive and violent young criminal (synset 110203700)
   is a type of: criminal, crook, felon, malefactor, outlaw - someone who has committed a crime or has been legally convicted of a crime
   subtypes: bully - a hired thug
   same as: goon, hood, hoodlum, punk, strong-armer, thug, toughie
3. A cruel and brutal fellow (synset 109898763)
   is a type of: aggressor, assailant, assaulter, attacker - someone who attacks
   subtypes:

   • bullyboy - a swaggering tough; usually one acting as an agent of a political faction
   • muscle, muscleman - a bully employed as a thug or bodyguard
   • skin, skinhead - a member of any of several British or American groups consisting predominantly of young people who shave their heads; some engage in white supremacist and anti-immigrant activities and this leads to the perception that all skinheads are racist and violent
   • plug-ugly, tough guy - someone who bullies weaker people
   same as: bully, hooligan, roughneck, rowdy, ruffian, yob, yobbo, yobo

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