How to Use tough in a Sentence

tough

1 of 4 adjective

• Are you tough enough for the job?
• She had a tough time in college.
• He's been hanging around with a bunch of tough guys.
• The rug is made of tough material.
• Last year was a tough time to be a kid in the District.
  — Ellie Silverman, Washington Post, 12 Jan. 2024
• There are so many things, and there are some that are so tough.
  — Hemal Jhaveri, WIRED, 29 Feb. 2024
• Mary’s kind of rough and tough, and has this soulful voice.
  — Shelby Stewart, Essence, 12 Mar. 2024
• The rind should be so tough that your fingernail cannot dent it.
  — Megan Hughes, Better Homes & Gardens, 9 Aug. 2023
• The slightly distressed leather boots are tough but light.
  — Samantha Booth, Rolling Stone, 8 Nov. 2023
• But Penix faced a tougher defense (Boise State) than the others and fired missiles all over the field.
  — Jon Wilner | , oregonlive, 3 Sep. 2023
• Brennan said afterward that both plays were tough because of the way the sky looked at the time.
  — Joe Noga, cleveland, 19 Aug. 2023
• The synthetic sole is tough and designed to last through day-to-day wear.
  — Christin Perry, Parents, 16 Oct. 2023
• Raised me with tough fatherly love and an even tougher hand.
  — Tommy McArdle, Peoplemag, 1 Mar. 2024
• The year before these thoughts began, things were tough for my siblings and me.
  — Lisa Deaderick, San Diego Union-Tribune, 23 Dec. 2023
• To not meet with them and find out what their concerns are and to answer their tough questions?
  — Misty Severi, Washington Examiner, 30 Nov. 2023
• To target tough spots, read these tips for oven cleaning.
  — Alicia Chilton, Better Homes & Gardens, 18 Aug. 2023
• Gone was the deer-in-the-headlights gaze from some of the toughest losses of Ewers’ first season in Austin.
  — Mike Finger, San Antonio Express-News, 30 Dec. 2023
• She’s been hit with hot flashes and cold spells, headaches, and cramping, which is tough to train through.
  — Christine Yu, SELF, 4 Oct. 2023
• That creates a type of person that is so tough and so gritty.
  — oregonlive, 17 July 2023
• Your friend might have good days and tougher days — or mornings might be better for her than evenings.
  — Amy Dickinson, Washington Post, 28 May 2023
• Gerrit Cole was Gerrit Cole, which is so tough to hit, so good.
  — Jacob Calvin Meyer, Baltimore Sun, 29 July 2023
• So exciting, but it's been tough to keep a secret for all this time.
  — Rachel Bernhard, Journal Sentinel, 4 Apr. 2024
• There’s no doubt the state’s reputation as a tough place to do business doesn’t help.
  — Jonathan Lansner, San Diego Union-Tribune, 24 Mar. 2024
• Jess considers the reasons why its growth has been tough.
  — Esther Mobley, San Francisco Chronicle, 20 Apr. 2023
• Salvatore Filmes took on the financing of the film – tough in Brazil as finance has proved thin on the ground over the last few years.
  — Callum McLennan, Variety, 22 Dec. 2023
• The sunsetting of Launch With GS comes in a tough market for founders and emerging managers.
  — Emma Hinchliffe, Fortune, 11 Jan. 2024
• Rumors of the Grapevine’s demise have been swirling since then, and Michelle credits the customers and staff for keeping the bar alive during tough times.
  — Sarah Blaskovich, Dallas News, 18 Aug. 2023
• The consensus seems to be that where the next mass shooting will happen is tough to predict.
  — The Courier-Journal, 16 Apr. 2023
• Compared to popular gamefish like bass, walleyes, crappies, and trout, northern pike have much tougher mouths.
  — Joe Cermele, Outdoor Life, 18 Apr. 2024
• Again, making technology do the heavy lifting is a great way to get the tough job of budgeting done without even thinking about it.
  — Jasmine Browley, Essence, 18 Apr. 2024

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tough

2 of 4 adverb

• He talks tough but he's not really dangerous.
• The Lancers hung tough against the Beavers and led 45-39 at halftime.
  — oregonlive, 17 Nov. 2021
• The cold air hangs tough over the area, with highs mainly in the lower 40s.
  — David Streit, Washington Post, 25 Jan. 2018
• The Celtics hung tough in Game 1, leading by 12 in the first half, but succumbed.
  — BostonGlobe.com, 31 May 2021
• Floyd was caught in the grips of America’s tough-on-crime era.
  — Washington Post, 19 Oct. 2020
• Dias, known for his no-nonsense/ tough-talking style, has led the union for nine years.
  — Jamie L. Lareau, Detroit Free Press, 17 Feb. 2022
• Might find things tough now the element of surprise is gone.
  — Martin Rogers, USA TODAY, 22 May 2018
• Springer, a tough-looking Kiwi with a salt-and-pepper beard, was one of the managers of the program.
  — Simon Willis, Travel + Leisure, 14 Dec. 2021
• Yo influence has entered the people’s veins so tough back at home and across the world.
  — Rasha Ali, USA TODAY, 16 Aug. 2020
• Plus, of course, those drawn to such a tough-looking truck for lifestyle reasons.
  — Mike Duff, Car and Driver, 1 July 2020
• But, in the meantime, maybe tough-on-crime politicians should stop blaming the victim.
  — Erika D. Smithcolumnist, Los Angeles Times, 25 Sep. 2022
• The Lady Bowmen have been playing tough so far this fall.
  — oregonlive, 17 Sep. 2022
• The cast that Ferrante put on the floor reacted to a tough-hitting Raiders squad, which is now 2-2 on the season.
  — Mike Morea, baltimoresun.com, 15 Mar. 2021
• Joe Biden’s decades-old support for tough-on-crime measures like the 1994 crime bill now earns him wrath from those among the far Left.
  — Emily Larsen, Washington Examiner, 17 June 2020
• Much of his final year focused on a replay of Richard Nixon's tough-on-crime rhetoric.
  — Julian Zelizer, CNN, 23 June 2021
• Meanwhile, Biden was passing the 1994 bill that furthered the era's tough-on-crime policies.
  — Kathleen Ronayne, Star Tribune, 31 July 2020
• By the 1990s, both major parties had adopted tough-on-crime stances.
  — Washington Post, 19 Oct. 2020
• The Blazers hung tough in the first quarter, falling behind 34-29.
  — oregonlive, 27 Dec. 2021
• The activists rejected putting the pain of survivors at the service of tough-on-crime policies.
  — New York Times, 17 Nov. 2021
• Has a lot of talent, can make all the throws, terrific arm, tough, he’s taken some hits and hangs in there.
  — Mary Kay Cabot, cleveland, 22 Oct. 2019
• Atlanta hung tough without Young against the Raptors but couldn’t come up with the critical plays down the stretch.
  — Jeremy Cluff, The Arizona Republic, 4 Feb. 2022
• Kids were obsessed and viewed McCurdy as their own tough-as-nails best friend.
  — Ashley Spencer, Washington Post, 5 Aug. 2022
• Harris played tough but lost another one-on-one late in the fourth quarter.
  — Ellis L. Williams, cleveland, 28 Dec. 2020
• The film begins in Vietnam in the 1990s, when Moody (Jackson) comes upon a bloodbath, with a bunch of tough-looking sorts shot to death.
  — Bill Goodykoontz, The Arizona Republic, 20 Aug. 2021
• In response, many Democrats are touting their own tough-on-crime message.
  — Time, 3 Nov. 2022
• Mutzbauer works with a main line on his bosun’s chair and a backup line on his full-body harness, each rope tough enough to take up to 7,000 pounds of force.
  — René A. Guzman, ExpressNews.com, 3 Dec. 2019
• Will Cortez Masto’s tough-on-crime credentials be enough to return her to the Senate?
  — Paul Begala, CNN, 19 Oct. 2022
• So what is this tough-talking governor going to do about it?
  — Steve Bousquet, sun-sentinel.com, 8 Oct. 2021
• In its message to members, the WGA urged writers to hang tough together despite the hardships that may come with a strike.
  — Cynthia Littleton, Variety, 1 May 2023
• Meanwhile, Bishop Fenwick’s guards will have to hang tough against a daunting Spartan backcourt.
  — Trevor Hass, BostonGlobe.com, 16 Mar. 2023

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tough

3 of 4 noun

• An immaculate white convertible — the BMW of its day — and well out of the reach of a pack of teenage Orange toughs.
  — Longreads, 16 June 2018
• Buddhist toughs threatened taxi drivers and merchants from Kargil, telling them they weren’t allowed to work in Leh.
  — Suhasini Raj and Jeffrey Gettleman, New York Times, 12 Oct. 2017
• Temple toughs threatened Kinsolving’s bosses and the series was cut.
  — Barton Swaim, WSJ, 28 Dec. 2018
• Overcharging the group seemed like a political move to boost his reelection as a tough on crime prosecutor.
  — Dahleen Glanton, chicagotribune.com, 7 Nov. 2019
• The fish has a tough, albeit flexible, inner layer bound by collagen to mineralize the outer layer of scales.
  — Fox News, 18 Oct. 2019
• They weren't strong enough to fight Sankoh and his hopped-up young toughs, who number in the thousands.
  — Tom Masland Et Al., Newsweek, 15 May 2000
• One night, after antagonizing a gang of older toughs, he had his face smashed in with a hockey stick.
  — John Harris, Rolling Stone, 14 Nov. 2002
• These teams — there are precisely two in the series, vaguely rivalrous, unequally enlightened — are the tough who get going when the going gets too tough for the ordinary weapons and tactics of ordinary police officers.
  — Robert Lloyd, latimes.com, 2 Nov. 2017
• Gebhardt and his brother-in-law were laborers at a pulp mill, but had reputations as toughs with nasty, racist streaks — and rap sheets: Gebhardt had been charged with aggravated assault several times and had spent time in a Georgia penitentiary.
  — Cleve R. Wootson Jr., Washington Post, 27 June 2018
• Martinez-Valdez, prosecutors say, was a street tough who earned a lucrative living by stepping into the sophisticated economic crime.
  — David Ovalle, miamiherald, 12 Jan. 2018
• The subways provided fine service, except that lately there had been a problem. Packs of young toughs had taken to roaming the cars.
  — Tom Wolf, Harper's, November 1989
• An immaculate white convertible — the BMW of its day — and well out of the reach of a pack of teenage Orange toughs.
  — Longreads, 16 June 2018
• Buddhist toughs threatened taxi drivers and merchants from Kargil, telling them they weren’t allowed to work in Leh.
  — Suhasini Raj and Jeffrey Gettleman, New York Times, 12 Oct. 2017
• Temple toughs threatened Kinsolving’s bosses and the series was cut.
  — Barton Swaim, WSJ, 28 Dec. 2018
• Overcharging the group seemed like a political move to boost his reelection as a tough on crime prosecutor.
  — Dahleen Glanton, chicagotribune.com, 7 Nov. 2019
• The fish has a tough, albeit flexible, inner layer bound by collagen to mineralize the outer layer of scales.
  — Fox News, 18 Oct. 2019
• They weren't strong enough to fight Sankoh and his hopped-up young toughs, who number in the thousands.
  — Tom Masland Et Al., Newsweek, 15 May 2000
• One night, after antagonizing a gang of older toughs, he had his face smashed in with a hockey stick.
  — John Harris, Rolling Stone, 14 Nov. 2002
• These teams — there are precisely two in the series, vaguely rivalrous, unequally enlightened — are the tough who get going when the going gets too tough for the ordinary weapons and tactics of ordinary police officers.
  — Robert Lloyd, latimes.com, 2 Nov. 2017
• Gebhardt and his brother-in-law were laborers at a pulp mill, but had reputations as toughs with nasty, racist streaks — and rap sheets: Gebhardt had been charged with aggravated assault several times and had spent time in a Georgia penitentiary.
  — Cleve R. Wootson Jr., Washington Post, 27 June 2018
• Martinez-Valdez, prosecutors say, was a street tough who earned a lucrative living by stepping into the sophisticated economic crime.
  — David Ovalle, miamiherald, 12 Jan. 2018
• The subways provided fine service, except that lately there had been a problem. Packs of young toughs had taken to roaming the cars.
  — Tom Wolf, Harper's, November 1989
• An immaculate white convertible — the BMW of its day — and well out of the reach of a pack of teenage Orange toughs.
  — Longreads, 16 June 2018
• Buddhist toughs threatened taxi drivers and merchants from Kargil, telling them they weren’t allowed to work in Leh.
  — Suhasini Raj and Jeffrey Gettleman, New York Times, 12 Oct. 2017
• Temple toughs threatened Kinsolving’s bosses and the series was cut.
  — Barton Swaim, WSJ, 28 Dec. 2018
• Overcharging the group seemed like a political move to boost his reelection as a tough on crime prosecutor.
  — Dahleen Glanton, chicagotribune.com, 7 Nov. 2019
• The fish has a tough, albeit flexible, inner layer bound by collagen to mineralize the outer layer of scales.
  — Fox News, 18 Oct. 2019
• They weren't strong enough to fight Sankoh and his hopped-up young toughs, who number in the thousands.
  — Tom Masland Et Al., Newsweek, 15 May 2000
• One night, after antagonizing a gang of older toughs, he had his face smashed in with a hockey stick.
  — John Harris, Rolling Stone, 14 Nov. 2002
• These teams — there are precisely two in the series, vaguely rivalrous, unequally enlightened — are the tough who get going when the going gets too tough for the ordinary weapons and tactics of ordinary police officers.
  — Robert Lloyd, latimes.com, 2 Nov. 2017

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tough

4 of 4 verb

• Most people will tough it out on the couch like the flu.
  — Anne Saker, USA TODAY, 16 Mar. 2020
• Just toughing it out with over-the-counter cold-and-cough stuff.
  — Bulletin Board, Twin Cities, 15 Dec. 2019
• But now is not the time to silently tough it out, or to go dark.
  — Outside Online, 9 Apr. 2020
• The Colts were out-toughing the Titans, simple as that.
  — Zak Keefer, Indianapolis Star, 16 Oct. 2017
• Perhaps the Norse could have toughed it out in Greenland by fully adopting the ways of the Inuit.
  — Tim Folger, Smithsonian, 29 Mar. 2017
• My style was to tough it out, which earned me great praise for strength, dignity, blah blah blah.
  — Washington Post, 1 Jan. 2021
• Then came the Cup Series, where the kid toughed it out for 132 races without a victory.
  — George Diaz, OrlandoSentinel.com, 29 May 2017
• But Moore toughed it out and made a final-round run that was fast enough for ninth in the overall title race.
  — Brett Hoffman, star-telegram, 27 Jan. 2018
• Dead serious, caught a migraine, but just had to tough it out.
  — Edgar Thompson, orlandosentinel.com, 7 Oct. 2019
• According to Dorram, the hardest part of the roots look is toughing out the urge to color back over them.
  — Rachel Nussbaum, Glamour, 17 July 2017
• The second shot was nearly an exact repeat with the hole toughing the first, ditto on the third shot.
  — Outdoor Life, 21 Jan. 2020
• Warner said about half the 1,000 residents of Ocracoke chose to tough it out.
  — Ben Finley, The Denver Post, 6 Sep. 2019
• In tune with that idea, Aje offers a heart-rending depiction of a child trying to tough his way through pain.
  — Celia Wren, Washington Post, 30 May 2022
• En route to exploring his options, O’Neal opted to tough it out at A&M.
  — Brent Zwerneman, San Antonio Express-News, 23 Nov. 2021
• Most people will try to tough it out with more over-the-counter medications, eye drops and nasal sprays, Portnoy said.
  — Kelsey Ryan, kansascity, 19 June 2018
• The English won their only previous two World Cup matchups, although both had to be toughed out.
  — San Diego Union-Tribune, 3 Oct. 2019
• The more both sides harden their resolve to tough it out, the greater the pressure on companies to hedge their bets on China and move elsewhere.
  — Gwynn Guilford, Quartz, 14 June 2019
• The upcoming road trip will tough on Fox The next three opponents all present challenges for Fox, as the Kings’ only healthy point guard.
  — Jason Jones, sacbee, 9 Feb. 2018
• The most impressive macro factor throughout is that Philly was never out-worked or out-toughed.
  — Jeremy Woo, SI.com, 24 Apr. 2018
• Mom, Dad and their younger daughter try to tough out a dinner to which their pastor has invited himself and his wife.
  — Daryl H. Miller, latimes.com, 23 Mar. 2018
• Unfortunately, the people who tough it out and open up a gallery are the true believers.
  — Mark Kurlyandchik, Detroit Free Press, 8 June 2018
• As spores, fungi can tough out adverse conditions and drift thousands of miles in the wind to find more livable settings.
  — Sarah Zhang, Discover Magazine, 16 May 2012
• And what keeps the city ticking is its dedicated network of promoters and DJs, who tough out the laws to deliver a good time.
  — Jack Tregoning, Billboard, 19 Feb. 2020
• And while many parents assume that middle school is a rite of passage that kids need to stoically tough out, the opposite could not be more true.
  — Sarah Molano, CNN, 10 Aug. 2021
• The family toughed it out Friday night in hoodies and extra layers of blankets.
  — Meredith Cohn, baltimoresun.com, 6 Mar. 2018
• Texans are a gritty people who believe in toughing it out no matter what’s thrown our way.
  — Karl Rove, WSJ, 30 Aug. 2017
• Even starting pitcher Austin Bibens-Dirkx, who was tagged with five runs on six hits, including two home runs in the first three innings, toughed it out to go six and keep the Rangers within 5-2.
  — Stefan Stevenson, star-telegram, 3 July 2018
• In both games, the senior transfer steadied a wobbly offense, and toughed out yardage while his quarterback, Wilton Speight, struggled to find his range.
  — Shawn Windsor, Detroit Free Press, 9 Sep. 2017
• The initiative failed, Coaxum says, because SF Global didn’t have the funding to tough out the lengthy municipal process.
  — Kristin Stoller, Forbes, 18 June 2021
• But others pivoted and parried, managing to tough it out.
  — Mara Severin, Anchorage Daily News, 16 Dec. 2022

Last Updated: 5 Sep 2024