tough-minded

adjective

Definition of tough-mindednext
as in unsentimental

Related Words

Relevance

Dissimilar Words

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of tough-minded Her tough-minded sister, Ena (Lisa Hagmeister), sees things with greater clarity. — Justin Chang, New Yorker, 18 Apr. 2026 Murphy, a gifted mechanic and a veteran of the Great War, immediately stands out to Clancy as a tough-minded, industrious guy. — Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 28 Jan. 2026 The number of ambiguous, tough-minded docs may be dwindling, but the tools to repair a broken world are growing. — Steven Zeitchik, HollywoodReporter, 7 Dec. 2025 His dad was a very, very tough-minded person. — Mark Gray, PEOPLE, 8 Nov. 2025 See All Example Sentences for tough-minded
Recent Examples of Synonyms for tough-minded
  1. unsentimental
  2. bottom-line
  3. unromantic
  4. levelheaded
  5. hard-edged
  6. rational
  7. sensible
  8. logical
Adjective
  • The novel also takes an unsentimental look at Jamaica, a country that, let the Sandals ads tell it, is mostly pristine beaches, jerk chicken, and Bob Marley’s One Love on a perpetual loop.
    — Tembe Denton-Hurst, Vulture, 4 Sep. 2026
  • The affect of these books—brisk, unsentimental, exacting—serves their diagnosis.
    — Becca Rothfeld, New Yorker, 16 Aug. 2026
Definition of unsentimental
Adjective
  • Even then, McKinsey finds only 39% of organizations can attribute any bottom-line impact to AI, most of them under 5%, and MIT reports that 95% of enterprise AI pilots show no measurable profit-and-loss impact.
    — Prashant Jalan, Forbes.com, 9 Sep. 2026
  • Still, Spyder’s tactic set off a chain of legal and bottom-line events that all lead to next month’s hearing and potentially a trial next year.
    — Dominic Patten, Deadline, 28 Aug. 2026
Definition of bottom-line
Adjective
  • At the press conference, a journalist noted that his filmography is notable for its unromantic view of animal life.
    — Nate Jones, Vulture, 3 Sep. 2026
  • For 30 minutes, the hunter watched the whitetails play a cat-and-mouse game as the buck tried to stay close to the unromantic does.
    — Jeff Murray, Outdoor Life, 20 Aug. 2026
Definition of unromantic
Adjective
  • The group consists of levelheaded leader Blossom, sweet-natured Bubbles, and spunky Buttercup.
    — Oliver Gettell, Entertainment Weekly, 26 July 2026
  • For much of a six-year Tigers tenure filled with wild ups and downs, Hinch has mostly carried a consistent, levelheaded demeanor.
    — Cody Stavenhagen, New York Times, 19 May 2026
Definition of levelheaded
Adjective
  • The Good, the Bad and the Painterly As Bouancheau fashioned a Puss that was more lyrical, like a character that stepped out of a fairy tale book and less hard-edged, all the other characters followed suit.
    — Karen Idelson, Variety, 23 Feb. 2023
Definition of hard-edged
Adjective
  • If that is true, and Clancy chose to kill herself and take her children with her, was her act rational?
    — Eren Orbey, New Yorker, 4 Sep. 2026
  • If only the film had lingered longer on Vasarhelyi’s totally rational horror and disbelief.
    — Richard Lawson, HollywoodReporter, 3 Sep. 2026
Definition of rational
Adjective
  • Sometimes, long after a sensible bedtime, the sun would break through the cloud for the first time that day.
    — Holden Frith, TheWeek, 4 Sep. 2026
  • The return of Gustavo Hamer feels like a sentimental move rather than necessarily a sensible football decision and Loum Tchaouna has changed clubs for the fifth summer in a row, and didn’t particularly convince for Burnley last season.
    — Nick Miller, New York Times, 4 Sep. 2026
Definition of sensible
Adjective
  • Large language models train on amalgamated content from millions of writers to predict the next logical word.
    — Marissa Brassfield, Forbes.com, 10 Sep. 2026
  • The decision to launch a separate block of programming aimed at those viewers, filled with raunchy cartoons that actively subverted nostalgia and violent anime that couldn’t be shown during daytime hours, was logical.
    — Christian Zilko, IndieWire, 10 Sep. 2026
Definition of logical

Browse Nearby Words

toughly
tough-minded
toughness
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Tough-minded.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/tough-minded. Accessed 12 Sep. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of hobnob

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

Why do we use apostrophes to show possession?

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Back to School Vocabulary

Words from the 'Odyssey'

Ye Olde Nincompoop: Old-Fashioned Words for 'Stupid'

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of
See More

Popular

See More

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Back to School Vocabulary
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
funny guinea pig in glasses reading a book
Challenging Words You Should Know Vol 2 Words to the wise
See All