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Mighty vs Tough - What's the difference?

mighty | tough |

As nouns the difference between mighty and tough

is that mighty is influential, powerful beings or mighty can be (obsolete|rare) a warrior of great strength and courage while tough is a person who obtains things by force; a thug or bully.

As adjectives the difference between mighty and tough

is that mighty is very strong; possessing might while tough is strong and resilient; sturdy.

As an adverb mighty

is (colloquial) very; to a high degree.

As an interjection tough is

(slang) (used to indicate lack of sympathy).

As a verb tough is

to endure.

mighty

English

Noun

(en-plural noun)
  • Influential, powerful beings.
  • *{{quote-magazine, date=2013-08-10, volume=408, issue=8848, magazine=(The Economist), author=Lexington
  • , title= Keeping the mighty honest , passage=British journalists shun complete respectability, feeling a duty to be ready to savage the mighty', or rummage through their bins. Elsewhere in Europe, government contracts and subsidies ensure that press barons will only defy the ' mighty so far.}}

    Noun

    (mighties)
  • (obsolete, rare) A warrior of great strength and courage.
  • * Bible , 1 Chronicles 11:12, King James Version:
  • And after him was Eleazar the son of Dodo, the Ahohite, who was one of the three mighties .

    Adjective

    (er)
  • Very strong; possessing might.
  • He's a mighty wrestler, but you are faster than him.
  • * Bible, Job ix. 4
  • Wise in heart, and mighty in strength.
  • Very heavy and powerful.
  • Thor swung his mighty hammer.
    He gave the ball a mighty hit.
  • Accomplished by might; hence, extraordinary; wonderful.
  • * Bible, Matthew xi. 20
  • His mighty works
  • * Hawthorne
  • Mighty was their fuss about little matters.
  • (informal) Excellent, extremely good.
  • Tonight's a mighty opportunity to have a party.
    She's a mighty cook.

    Derived terms

    * high and mighty

    Adverb

    (-)
  • (colloquial) Very; to a high degree.
  • You can leave that food in your locker for the weekend, but it's going to smell mighty bad when you come back on Monday.
    Pork chops boiled with turnip greens makes a mighty fine meal.
  • * Samuel Pepys
  • The lady is not heard of, and the King mighty angry and the Lord sent to the Tower.
  • * 1918 , (Edgar Rice Burroughs), Chapter IV
  • I was mighty glad that our entrance into the interior of Caprona had been inside a submarine rather than in any other form of vessel. I could readily understand how it might have been that Caprona had been invaded in the past by venturesome navigators without word of it ever reaching the outside world, for I can assure you that only by submarine could man pass up that great sluggish river, alive.

    tough

    English

    Adjective

    (er)
  • Strong and resilient; sturdy.
  • The tent, made of tough canvas, held up to many abuses.
  • (of food) Difficult to cut or chew.
  • To soften a tough cut of meat, the recipe suggested simmering it for hours.
  • Rugged or physically hardy.
  • Only a tough species will survive in the desert.
  • Stubborn.
  • He had a reputation as a tough negotiator.
  • (of weather etc) Harsh or severe.
  • Rowdy or rough.
  • A bunch of the tough boys from the wrong side of the tracks threatened him.
  • Difficult or demanding.
  • This is a tough crowd.
  • (material science) Undergoing plastic deformation before breaking.
  • Derived terms

    * do it tough * hang tough * supertough * tough call * tough case * tough cookie * tough crowd * tough love * tough luck * tough-minded * tough nut to crack * tough row to hoe * tough shit * tough titty * tough toodles * tough tuchus * toughen * toughie * toughish * toughly * toughness * toughy * ultratough *

    Interjection

    (en interjection)
  • (slang) (Used to indicate lack of sympathy)
  • If you don't like it, tough !

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A person who obtains things by force; a thug or bully.
  • They were doing fine until they encountered a bunch of toughs from the opposition.

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To endure.
  • To toughen.
  • Derived terms

    * tough it out * tough out

    Anagrams

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