tuff
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
See also: Tuff
Etymology 1
From French tuffe, tuf, from Italian tufo, from Latin tōfus. Doublet of tufa.
Pronunciation
Noun
tuff (countable and uncountable, plural tuffs)
- (petrology) 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
- tufflava
Translations
a rock composed of compacted volcanic ash
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Etymology 2
Adjective
tuff (comparative tuffer, superlative tuffest)
- Eye dialect spelling of tough.
- 1980, Joy Wilt Berry, Ernie Hergenroeder, Tuff Stuff: A Children's Book about Trauma, 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, →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 English Writing (Language Arts), 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, Penguin, →ISBN, page 36:
- TUFF METER
- 2010 January 20, Robert J. Elisberg, “CES 2020 -- Ohm on the Range”, in Huffington Post, retrieved 2012-09-14:
- 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, Krause Publications, →ISBN:
- Tuff Stuff Professional Wrestling
Further reading
References
- Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia, tuff
Pronunciation
Etymology 1
Borrowed from English tough. Attested since 1923.
Adjective
tuff (comparative tuffare, superlative tuffast)
- (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
- (colloquial) cool; badass (see usage notes)
- 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
- göra tuffa tricks på brädan
- pull off some rad tricks on the board
- Fan vad tufft!
- Awesome!
- 1995, De Lyckliga Kompisarna (lyrics and music), “Allmänt tuff [Generally badass]”, in Sagoland [Fairy tale land]:
- 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
Often with (sometimes tongue-in-cheek) bad boy (or girl) connotations when of 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.
Declension
| Inflection of tuff | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Indefinite | Positive | Comparative | Superlative2 |
| Common singular | tuff | tuffare | tuffast |
| Neuter singular | tufft | tuffare | tuffast |
| Plural | tuffa | tuffare | tuffast |
| Masculine plural3 | tuffe | tuffare | tuffast |
| Definite | Positive | Comparative | Superlative |
| Masculine singular1 | tuffe | tuffare | tuffaste |
| All | tuffa | tuffare | tuffaste |
| 1) Only used, optionally, to refer to things whose natural gender is masculine. 2) The indefinite superlative forms are only used in the predicative. 3) Dated or archaic | |||
Derived terms
See also
Etymology 2
Noun
tuff c
Declension
References
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