Dictionary

tough cookie en · NOUN

Meanings

1. (informal) A person who can endure physical or mental hardship; a hardened, strong-willed person.
   • Donald Trump called Norris “a great guy” when asked about him as he boarded Air Force One. “He was a really good tough cookie,” Trump said. “We didn’t want to fight him.” 2026 March 20, Andrew Pulver, “Chuck Norris, prolific action star and martial arts champion, dies aged 86”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:
   • "Although she's a small-framed woman, we all believed she came through the Marines and maybe ate nails for breakfast because she's one tough cookie," said Horace Taylor […] 2005 October 3, Liz Austin, “Miers had stormy tenure at Texas Lottery Commission”, in Spokesman-Review:
   • Well you're a real tough cookie with a long history Of breaking little hearts like the one in me 1980, Eddie Schwartz, “Hit Me with Your Best Shot”, in Crimes of Passion, performed by Pat Benatar:
   • I run to Micki and give her a hug. She was racing with a broken thumb — a tough cookie, just like me. 2002, Picabo Street, Dana White, Picabo: Nothing to Hide, Contemporary Books, →ISBN, page 6:
   • An austere, hard-lining rightist, who lives alone, Ioannidis is described by one Washington military official as "a real tough cookie." 1973 December 10, “Ioannidis: Power in the Wings”, in Time:
2. (informal) A hardy, resilient animal or plant.
   • Though its name is Cupcake, Tristan Carter's cat proved it was one tough cookie surviving on its own since Hurricane Katrina forced Carter to abandon it […] 2006 March 13, “Katrina Cat”, in Jet:
   • Boxwood is a pretty tough cookie. Wind, cold, wet, exhaust fumes, and industrial pollution are of no consequence. 2001, Sybille Engels, Basic Gardening: Everything You Need to Make Your Garden Grow, Silverback Books, →ISBN, page 134:
3. (informal) Something troublesome or difficult to handle.
   • The pup that struggles constantly might be one tough cookie when it comes to training; […] 2002, Steven Smith, editor, Encyclopedia of North American Sporting Dogs, Willow Creek Press, →ISBN, page 63:

Forms

Synonyms

trooper (person able to endure hardship) · survivor (person able to endure hardship)

Translations (7)

de Überlebenskünstler (person who can endure physical or mental hardship) · de harter Knochen (person who can endure physical or mental hardship) · pt osso duro (person who can endure physical or mental hardship) · fi kova luu (person who can endure physical or mental hardship) · pl twarda sztuka (person who can endure physical or mental hardship) · de zäher Bursche (person who can endure physical or mental hardship) · it osso duro (person who can endure physical or mental hardship)