"tough cookie" meaning in English

See tough cookie in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

Forms: tough cookies [plural]
Head templates: {{en-noun}} tough cookie (plural tough cookies)

Inflected forms

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  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
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    {
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          "_dis": "85 15 0",
          "kind": "topical",
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          "name": "People",
          "orig": "en:People",
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            "Human",
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            "Fundamental"
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      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1973 December 10, “Ioannidis: Power in the Wings”, in Time:",
          "text": "An austere, hard-lining rightist, who lives alone, Ioannidis is described by one Washington military official as \"a real tough cookie.\"",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2002, Picabo Street, Dana White, Picabo: Nothing to Hide, Contemporary Books, →ISBN, page 6:",
          "text": "I run to Micki and give her a hug. She was racing with a broken thumb — a tough cookie, just like me.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2005 October 3, Liz Austin, “Miers had stormy tenure at Texas Lottery Commission”, in Spokesman-Review:",
          "text": "\"Although she's a small-framed woman, we all believed she came through the Marines and maybe ate nails for breakfast because she's one tough cookie,\" said Horace Taylor […]",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A person who can endure physical or mental hardship; a hardened, strong-willed person."
      ],
      "id": "en-tough_cookie-en-noun-jOgGySUu",
      "links": [
        [
          "endure",
          "endure"
        ],
        [
          "physical",
          "physical"
        ],
        [
          "mental",
          "mental"
        ],
        [
          "hardship",
          "hardship"
        ],
        [
          "hardened",
          "hardened"
        ],
        [
          "strong-willed",
          "strong-willed"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(informal) A person who can endure physical or mental hardship; a hardened, strong-willed person."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "_dis1": "96 2 2",
          "sense": "person able to endure hardship",
          "word": "survivor"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "96 2 2",
          "sense": "person able to endure hardship",
          "word": "trooper"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "informal"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "_dis1": "99 0 1",
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "person who can endure physical or mental hardship",
          "word": "kova luu"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "99 0 1",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "person who can endure physical or mental hardship",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "Überlebenskünstler"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "99 0 1",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "person who can endure physical or mental hardship",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "harter Knochen"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "99 0 1",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "person who can endure physical or mental hardship",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "zäher Bursche"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "99 0 1",
          "code": "it",
          "lang": "Italian",
          "sense": "person who can endure physical or mental hardship",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "osso duro"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "99 0 1",
          "code": "pl",
          "lang": "Polish",
          "sense": "person who can endure physical or mental hardship",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "twarda sztuka"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "99 0 1",
          "code": "pt",
          "lang": "Portuguese",
          "sense": "person who can endure physical or mental hardship",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "osso duro"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2001, Sybille Engels, Basic Gardening: Everything You Need to Make Your Garden Grow, Silverback Books, →ISBN, page 134:",
          "text": "Boxwood is a pretty tough cookie. Wind, cold, wet, exhaust fumes, and industrial pollution are of no consequence.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2006 March 13, “Katrina Cat”, in Jet:",
          "text": "Though its name is Cupcake, Tristan Carter's cat proved it was one tough cookie surviving on its own since Hurricane Katrina forced Carter to abandon it […]",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A hardy, resilient animal or plant."
      ],
      "id": "en-tough_cookie-en-noun-Yb-Bv-NE",
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          "hardy",
          "hardy"
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          "resilient",
          "resilient"
        ],
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          "animal",
          "animal"
        ],
        [
          "plant",
          "plant"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(informal) A hardy, resilient animal or plant."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "informal"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2002, Steven Smith, editor, Encyclopedia of North American Sporting Dogs, Willow Creek Press, →ISBN, page 63:",
          "text": "The pup that struggles constantly might be one tough cookie when it comes to training; […]",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Something troublesome or difficult to handle."
      ],
      "id": "en-tough_cookie-en-noun-AdaIuPAB",
      "links": [
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          "troublesome",
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          "difficult",
          "difficult"
        ],
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          "handle",
          "handle"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(informal) Something troublesome or difficult to handle."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "informal"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "tough cookie"
}
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          "ref": "1973 December 10, “Ioannidis: Power in the Wings”, in Time:",
          "text": "An austere, hard-lining rightist, who lives alone, Ioannidis is described by one Washington military official as \"a real tough cookie.\"",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2002, Picabo Street, Dana White, Picabo: Nothing to Hide, Contemporary Books, →ISBN, page 6:",
          "text": "I run to Micki and give her a hug. She was racing with a broken thumb — a tough cookie, just like me.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2005 October 3, Liz Austin, “Miers had stormy tenure at Texas Lottery Commission”, in Spokesman-Review:",
          "text": "\"Although she's a small-framed woman, we all believed she came through the Marines and maybe ate nails for breakfast because she's one tough cookie,\" said Horace Taylor […]",
          "type": "quote"
        }
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        "A person who can endure physical or mental hardship; a hardened, strong-willed person."
      ],
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        "(informal) A person who can endure physical or mental hardship; a hardened, strong-willed person."
      ],
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        "informal"
      ]
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        {
          "ref": "2001, Sybille Engels, Basic Gardening: Everything You Need to Make Your Garden Grow, Silverback Books, →ISBN, page 134:",
          "text": "Boxwood is a pretty tough cookie. Wind, cold, wet, exhaust fumes, and industrial pollution are of no consequence.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2006 March 13, “Katrina Cat”, in Jet:",
          "text": "Though its name is Cupcake, Tristan Carter's cat proved it was one tough cookie surviving on its own since Hurricane Katrina forced Carter to abandon it […]",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A hardy, resilient animal or plant."
      ],
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          "resilient"
        ],
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        ],
        [
          "plant",
          "plant"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(informal) A hardy, resilient animal or plant."
      ],
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        "informal"
      ]
    },
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        "English informal terms",
        "English terms with quotations"
      ],
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        {
          "ref": "2002, Steven Smith, editor, Encyclopedia of North American Sporting Dogs, Willow Creek Press, →ISBN, page 63:",
          "text": "The pup that struggles constantly might be one tough cookie when it comes to training; […]",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Something troublesome or difficult to handle."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "troublesome",
          "troublesome"
        ],
        [
          "difficult",
          "difficult"
        ],
        [
          "handle",
          "handle"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(informal) Something troublesome or difficult to handle."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "informal"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "sense": "person able to endure hardship",
      "word": "survivor"
    },
    {
      "sense": "person able to endure hardship",
      "word": "trooper"
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "person who can endure physical or mental hardship",
      "word": "kova luu"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "person who can endure physical or mental hardship",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "Überlebenskünstler"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "person who can endure physical or mental hardship",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "harter Knochen"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "person who can endure physical or mental hardship",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "zäher Bursche"
    },
    {
      "code": "it",
      "lang": "Italian",
      "sense": "person who can endure physical or mental hardship",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "osso duro"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "sense": "person who can endure physical or mental hardship",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "twarda sztuka"
    },
    {
      "code": "pt",
      "lang": "Portuguese",
      "sense": "person who can endure physical or mental hardship",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "osso duro"
    }
  ],
  "word": "tough cookie"
}

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This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2025-01-25 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2025-01-20 using wiktextract (c15a5ce and 5c11237). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.