tuff

See also: Tuff

English

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

Etruscan tuff blocks
Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *tewh₂-der.
Proto-Italic *tūβosder.
Oscanbor.?
Latin tōfusder.
Italian tufobor.
French tufbor.
English tuff

    From French tuffe, tuf, from Italian tufo, from Latin tōfus. Doublet of tufa.

    Noun

    tuff (countable and uncountable, plural tuffs)

    1. (geology) A light porous rock, now especially a rock composed of compacted volcanic ash varying in size from fine sand to coarse gravel.
      Synonym: tufa
      • 2004, Richard Fortey, The Earth, Folio Society, published 2011, page 9n:
        This is what makes an ignimbrite; the general term for this kind of volcaniclastic rock is ‘tuff’.
    Derived terms
    Translations

    Etymology 2

      Eye dialect of tough.

      Adjective

      tuff (comparative tuffer or more tuff, superlative tuffest or most tuff)

      1. Eye dialect spelling of tough.
        • 1980, Joy Wilt Berry, Ernie Hergenroeder, Tuff Stuff: A Children's Book about Trauma‎[1], Educational Products Division, Word, Inc., →ISBN:
          Tuff Stuff teaches that while life may go smoothly most of the time, ...
        • 2000, Margaret Cavendish, “Preface to the Reader (1655)”, in Sylvia Bowerbank, Sara Mendelson, editors, Paper Bodies‎[2], →ISBN, page 139:
          … yet never to make us so strong as the strongest of Men, whose Sinnews are tuffer, and Bones stronger, and Joints closer, and Flesh firmer, than ours are …
        • 2003, Ronald Carter, The Routledge Guide to Modern EnglishWriting‎[3], Routledge, →ISBN, page 96:
          It was rave reviewed in the Caribbean Times as 'the ruffest, tuffest and the boo-yacka of all modern gangster novels'.
        • 2006, Paige Hemmis, The Tuff Chix Guide to Easy Home Improvement‎[4], Penguin, →ISBN, page 36:
          TUFF METER
        • 2010 January 20, Robert J. Elisberg, “CES 2020 -- Ohm on the Range”, in Huffington Post‎[5], archived from the original on 11 March 2016:
          Its Tuff-n-Tiny USB flash drive is about the size of a thumbnail. … The company insists that the "tuff" part of the name is well-earned for being waterproof, dustproof and you can drive a car over it.
        • 2011, Kristian Pope, Tuff Stuff Professional Wrestling Field Guide: Legend and Lore‎[6], Krause Publications, →ISBN:
          Tuff Stuff Professional Wrestling
      2. (Internet slang, often ironic) Impressive, amazing, awesome, cool.
        bro thinks he's tuff
      Derived terms

      Swedish

      Pronunciation

      • IPA(key): /tɵf/
      • Rhymes: -ɵf

      Etymology 1

      Borrowed from Italian tufo. First attested in 1774.

      Noun

      tuff c

      1. (petrology) tuff
      Declension
      Declension of tuff
      nominative genitive
      singular indefinite tuff tuffs
      definite tuffen tuffens
      plural indefinite tuffer tuffers
      definite tufferna tuffernas

      Etymology 2

      en tuff kille på en tuff motorcykel

      Borrowed from English tough. First attested in 1923.

      Adjective

      tuff (comparative tuffare, superlative tuffast)

      1. (somewhat colloquial) tough
        en tuff uppgift ― a tough task
        en tuff dag ― a tough day
        tuffa förhandlingar ― tough negotiations
        ett tufft beslut ― a tough decision
        spela tuff ― act tough
      3. (colloquial) cool; badass (see usage notes)
        göra tuffa tricks på brädan ― pull off some rad tricks on the board
        Vilken tuff motorcykel! ― What a cool motorcycle!
        Om man ska vara med i ett gatugäng måste man ha ett tufft smeknamn
        If you're going to be in a street gang, you need to have a cool nickname
        • 1995, De Lyckliga Kompisarna, “Allmänt tuff [Generally Badass]”, in Sagoland [Fairy Tale Land]‎[7]:
          Allmänt tuff. Jocke, han är allmänt tuff, och Krille, han är allmänt tuff. Allmänt tuff. Danne, han är allmänt tuff, och jag är allmänt tuff.
          Generally badass. Jocke, he [redundant in Swedish as well] is generally badass, and Krille, he is generally badass. Generally badass. Danne, he is generally badass, and I am generally badass.
      Usage notes

      The term has (sometimes tongue-in-cheek) connotations of a bad boy or girl when referring to a person. The sense of cool has (sometimes tongue-in-cheek) connotations of (somewhat) breaking social norms as well. A motorcycle might be called tuff for example, by association with bikers; tuff musik would commonly be something like heavy metal (considered cool and rebellious, "edgy"), and a tuff frisyr would be a cool and (slightly) provocative haircut. Sometimes a bit dated (or tongue-in-cheek), for example when describing music. Has come into fashion again during the early-mid 2020s among the youth.

      Declension
      Inflection of tuff
      Indefinite positive comparative superlative1
      common singular tuff tuffare tuffast
      neuter singular tufft tuffare tuffast
      plural tuffa tuffare tuffast
      masculine plural2 tuffe tuffare tuffast
      Definite positive comparative superlative
      masculine singular3 tuffe tuffare tuffaste
      all tuffa tuffare tuffaste

      1 The indefinite superlative forms are only used in the predicative.
      2 Dated or archaic.
      3 Only used, optionally, to refer to things whose natural gender is masculine.

      Derived terms
      See also

      References

      Tarifit

      Verb

      tuff (Tifinagh spelling ⵜⵓⴼⴼ)

      1. inflection of uff:
        1. third-person feminine singular aorist
        2. third-person feminine singular perfective
        3. third-person feminine singular negative perfective
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