tough
/tʌf/
Word Rarity
Uncommon
Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.77 in modern English
9
Scrabble Score
5
Letters
1
Syllables
5
Unique Chars
Meaning
adj
Of a person or animal, rugged or physically hardy.
adj
Of a person, stubborn or persistent; capable of stubbornness or persistence.
Example Sentences
- "The tent, made of tough canvas, held up to many abuses."
- "To soften a tough cut of meat, the recipe suggested simmering it for hours."
- "Only a tough species will survive in the desert."
- "But before you quit turkey hunting and take up model-train collecting, let me give you the good news: you can score on tough turkeys. In fact, you can kill the toughest turkey in the woods."
- "He had a reputation as a tough negotiator."
- "A bunch of the tough boys from the wrong side of the tracks threatened him."
Etymology
From Middle English tough, towgh, tou, toȝ, from Old English tōh (“tough, tenacious, holding fast together; pliant; sticky, glutinous, clammy”), from Proto-West Germanic *tą̄h(ī), from Proto-Germanic *tanhuz (“fitting; clinging; tenacious; tough”), from *tinganą (“to press upon, throng”), from Proto-Indo-European *denḱ- (“to bite”). Cognates Cognate with Saterland Frisian toai (“tough”), Bavarian zaach, zach (“tough”), Dutch taai (“tough”), German zäh, zähe (“tough”), Limburgish tiee (“tough”), Luxembourgish zéi (“tough”); also Ancient Greek δάκνω (dáknō, “to bite”), Albanian danë, darë (“tongs; pincers; pliers”), Sanskrit दशति (daśati, “to bite”).
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: *denḱ-, tough, tōh, *tą̄h(ī), *tanhuz
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /tʌf/
- British English: /tʌf/