Tougher

Tougher is the comparative form of the adjective tough. It describes something that is more difficult, more durable, or more resilient than something else, depending on the context. In discussions of challenges, tasks, or situations, tougher usually signals greater difficulty or resistance. When applied to materials, people, or performances, it can indicate increased strength, endurance, or toughness. Like other comparatives, tougher is used to compare two or more items, as in, The final round was tougher than the semifinals.

Common uses include evaluating tasks, conditions, or opponents. For example, a tougher exam implies harder questions or a higher standard; a tougher opponent suggests greater skill or persistence; a tougher glaze on a material indicates increased rigidity. Collocations frequent in journalism and everyday speech include tougher competition, tougher stance, tougher conditions, and much tougher or a lot tougher for emphasis. In negative constructions, you would still employ the comparative form, such as, The job got tougher, not The job got tougherly.

Related forms and notes: tougher is derived from the base adjective tough; related words include toughness (the quality of being tough), toughen (to make or become tougher), and toughest (the superlative form). In usage, tougher is typically a neutral, widely accepted term across varieties of English, suitable for formal and informal writing. It is not generally used as an adverb; when modifying verbs, speakers often restructure the sentence to avoid misplacing the modifier.