toughen

English

Etymology

From tough +‎ -en.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈtʌfən/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ʌfən

Verb

toughen (third-person singular simple present toughens, present participle toughening, simple past and past participle toughened)

1. (transitive) To make tough.

   The new training program is designed to toughen the athletes.

   A cold shower every morning will toughen your skin.

   • 2025 October 29, Chris Howe, “A step closer to Liverpool dream...”, in RAIL, number 1047, page 50:

     Although the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) had toughened its stance on new third rail electrification, gaining approval for short sections of third rail to charge the batteries could be more straightforward.

2. (intransitive) To become tough.

Derived terms

• toughen up

Translations

to make tougher

• Bulgarian: втвърдявам (bg) (vtvǎrdjavam)
• Finnish: koventaa (fi), vahvistaa (fi), karkaista (fi)
• Irish: cruaigh
• Māori: whakapūioio, whakamarohi, whakapakeke
• Russian: ужесточа́ть (ru) impf (užestočátʹ), ужесточи́ть (ru) pf (užestočítʹ) (rules, etc.)

to become tougher

• Bulgarian: втвърдявам се (vtvǎrdjavam se)
• Czech: ztuhnout (cs) pf, ztvrdnout pf
• Finnish: koventua (fi), vahvistua (fi), karkaistua
• German: versteifen (de)
• Irish: cruaigh
• Slovak: stvrdnúť pf, stuhnúť pf

Anagrams

• oughten

German

Pronunciation

• Audio (Germany (Berlin)):

  (file)

Adjective

toughen

1. inflection of tough:
   1. strong genitive masculine/neuter singular
   2. weak/mixed genitive/dative all-gender singular
   3. strong/weak/mixed accusative masculine singular
   4. strong dative plural
   5. weak/mixed all-case plural