tough-love
Word Rarity
Uncommon
Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.73 in modern English
16
Scrabble Score
9
Letters
2
Syllables
8
Unique Chars
Meaning
verb
To practice tough love; to treat someone with compassion but applying stringent discipline in order to improve their behavior.
Informal; Transitive verb
Example Sentences
- "The system's got some of our finest men being tough-loved to death!"
- "In time, the counselors at the program tough-loved me into acknowledging that I was using my disabilities as an excuse to drink and drug."
- "He must be tough-loved by the Church."
- "He tough-loved the hell out of me without ever knowing what tough love meant."