tough guy
Speech parts
1. tough guy - Noun
2. tough guy - Adjective
Meaning
tough guy (plural tough guys)
(set phrase) A man known for his physical and/or emotional resilience.
tough-guy (comparative more tough-guy, superlative most tough-guy)
Resembling or characteristic of a tough guy.
Alternative names
tough-guy
Synonyms
Antonyms
Hypernyms
Examples
"I tell you," he [Milosevic] continued, "Izetbegovic has earned Sarajevo by not abandoning it. He's one tough guy. It's his". These words were probably the most astonishing and unexpected of the conference.
My father was a dreamer - my hero. He was a smart, tough guy from Poland, a cutter of lady's handbags, an old socialist-unionist who always considered himself a failure. His big line was: 'Don't end up like me.'
I like to pretend that I'm a tough guy. It's kind of an admission of defeat if I have to ask for help - or even kindness. But if it doesn't come, at some point I snap and demand it.
I wanna be in action movies, I wanna be the tough guy... I wanna scare people.
A common misperception of me is... that I am a tough, rough northerner, which I suppose I am really. But I'm pretty mild-mannered most of the time. It's the parts that you play I guess. I don't mind it. I'm not a tough guy. I'd like to act as a fair, easy-going, kind man at some point.
My dad was a Marine. He was one of the Montford Point Marines. Those are the equivalent of the Tuskegee Airmen for Marines. He's a tough, tough guy.