tough

adj.

1 difficult/unpleasant

VERBS

▪ be, seem

▪ get

▪ remain

▪ find sth

▪

He may find it tough to pursue his plans.

▪ make sth

▪

The strong dollar has made it tough for small businesses.

ADVERB

▪ extremely, fairly, very, etc.

▪ particularly, really

▪

Things were really tough at first.

▪ a little, slightly, etc.

PREPOSITION

▪ on

▪

It's very tough on the wives when the husbands leave.

2 strict/firm

VERBS

▪ be

▪ become, get

ADVERB

▪ extremely, fairly, very, etc.

▪ particularly

▪ enough

▪

Has the government been tough enough on polluters?

PREPOSITION

▪ on

▪

The government has promised to get tough on crime.

▪ with

▪

You have to be tough with these young thugs.

3 strong

VERBS

▪ appear, be, feel, look, seem, stand (informal)

▪ become, get, grow

▪ act, play, talk (all informal)

▪

Then this guy started acting tough.

ADVERB

▪ extremely, fairly, very, etc.

▪ incredibly, really, remarkably

▪ enough

▪

Are you sure you're physically tough enough for this job?

▪ mentally, physically

Tough is used with these nouns: ↑assignment, ↑battle, ↑beef, ↑business, ↑call, ↑catch, ↑challenge, ↑choice, ↑climb, ↑competition, ↑competitor, ↑control, ↑critic, ↑decision, ↑exterior, ↑fight, ↑game, ↑guy, ↑hide, ↑job, ↑law, ↑legislation, ↑line, ↑luck, ↑measure, ↑meat, ↑negotiation, ↑negotiator, ↑neighbourhood, ↑opponent, ↑part, ↑penalty, ↑problem, ↑proposition, ↑question, ↑questioning, ↑race, ↑regulation, ↑restriction, ↑rival, ↑road, ↑season, ↑situation, ↑skin, ↑stance, ↑stand, ↑steak, ↑stretch, ↑talk, ↑target, ↑task, ↑test, ↑time, ↑training, ↑week, ↑work, ↑world, ↑year