tough

(noun) someone who learned to fight in the streets rather than being formally trained in the sport of boxing. Synonyms: street fighter.

(noun) an aggressive and violent young criminal. Synonyms: hood, hoodlum, goon, punk, thug, toughie, strong-armer.

(noun) a cruel and brutal fellow. Synonyms: bully, hooligan, ruffian, roughneck, rowdy, yob, yobo, yobbo.

(adj) not given to gentleness or sentimentality. Synonyms: tough (vs. tender). Examples: "A tough character."

(adj) very difficult; severely testing stamina or resolution. Synonyms: rugged. Examples: "A rugged competitive examination." "The rugged conditions of frontier life." "The competition was tough." "It's a tough life." "It was a tough job."

(adj) physically toughened. Synonyms: tough (vs. tender), toughened. Examples: "The tough bottoms of his feet."

(adj) substantially made or constructed. Synonyms: sturdy. Examples: "Sturdy steel shelves." "Sturdy canvas." "A tough all-weather fabric." "Some plastics are as tough as metal."

(adj) violent and lawless. Synonyms: ruffianly. Examples: "The more ruffianly element." "Tough street gangs."

(adj) feeling physical discomfort or pain (`tough' is occasionally used colloquially for `bad'). Synonyms: bad. Examples: "My throat feels bad." "She felt bad all over." "He was feeling tough after a restless night."

(adj) resistant to cutting or chewing. Synonyms: tough (vs. tender).

(adj) unfortunate or hard to bear. Synonyms: hard. Examples: "Had hard luck." "A tough break."

(adj) making great mental demands; hard to comprehend or solve or believe. Synonyms: baffling, elusive, knotty, problematic, problematical. Examples: "A baffling problem." "I faced the knotty problem of what to have for breakfast." "A problematic situation at home."