Synonyms for tough

Noun

1. street fighter, tough, combatant, battler, belligerent, fighter, scrapper

usage: someone who learned to fight in the streets rather than being formally trained in the sport of boxing

2. hood, hoodlum, goon, punk, thug, tough, toughie, strong-armer, criminal, felon, crook, outlaw, malefactor

usage: an aggressive and violent young criminal

3. bully, tough, hooligan, ruffian, roughneck, rowdy, yob, yobo, yobbo, attacker, aggressor, assailant, assaulter

usage: a cruel and brutal fellow

Adjective

1. tough (vs. tender), hard-bitten, hard-boiled, pugnacious, tough-minded, unsentimental, hard, insensitive

usage: not given to gentleness or sentimentality; "a tough character"

2. rugged, tough, difficult (vs. easy), hard

usage: very difficult; severely testing stamina or resolution; "a rugged competitive examination"; "the rugged conditions of frontier life"; "the competition was tough"; "it's a tough life"; "it was a tough job"

3. tough (vs. tender), toughened, calloused, thickened, enured, inured, hardened, weather-beaten, experienced, rugged, strong

usage: physically toughened; "the tough bottoms of his feet"

4. sturdy, tough, rugged (vs. delicate)

usage: substantially made or constructed; "sturdy steel shelves"; "sturdy canvas"; "a tough all-weather fabric"; "some plastics are as tough as metal"

5. ruffianly, tough, violent (vs. nonviolent)

usage: violent and lawless; "the more ruffianly element"; "tough street gangs"

6. bad, tough, uncomfortable (vs. comfortable)

usage: feeling physical discomfort or pain (`tough' is occasionally used colloquially for `bad'); "my throat feels bad"; "she felt bad all over"; "he was feeling tough after a restless night"

7. tough (vs. tender), cartilaginous, gristly, rubbery, chewy, coriaceous, leathered, leatherlike, leathery, fibrous, sinewy, stringy, unchewable, hempen, fibrous, inedible#1, uneatable

usage: tough to cut or chew

8. hard, tough, bad (vs. good)

usage: unfortunate or hard to bear; "had hard luck"; "a tough break"