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
  • Mears died at the age of ninety-one, and the end of his life seems to have been as unsentimental as its beginning.
    — Peter Hessler, New Yorker, 28 Sep. 2026
  • Though her voice is decidedly unsentimental, there’s still a gentleness to this novel that invites readers to care and wonder about history rather than mine it for certain knowledge.
    — Kat Chen, Condé Nast Traveler, 23 Sep. 2026
Definition of unsentimental
Adjective
  • Beyond the bottom-line impact of having the wrong amount of office space, using attendance data alone to make critical real estate decisions can also erode team trust.
    — Micah Remley, Forbes.com, 28 Sep. 2026
  • Disputing the very right of California Attorney General Rob Bonta, New York AG Letitia James and others to raise an antitrust stink, the Todd Blanche-run DOJ made its bottom-line POV a top line in paperwork filed Tuesday in federal court.
    — Dominic Patten, Deadline, 15 Sep. 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
  • To hear levelheaded commentators discuss it, this was all simply entertainment — two of the genre’s greats duking it out.
    — Jeff Ihaza, Rolling Stone, 14 Sep. 2026
  • The group consists of levelheaded leader Blossom, sweet-natured Bubbles, and spunky Buttercup.
    — Oliver Gettell, Entertainment Weekly, 26 July 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
  • Humans, in contrast, have souls that are additionally capable of rational thought.
    — Encyclopedia Britannica, Encyclopedia Britannica, 30 Sep. 2026
  • Investing more heavily in technology, shifting resources to a newer product line or exiting an activity with poor long-term economics are rational decisions.
    — Erik Clarke, Forbes.com, 29 Sep. 2026
Definition of rational
Adjective
  • Put your resources toward what feels meaningful, not merely sensible.
    — Tarot.com, Hartford Courant, 2 Oct. 2026
  • Sun is worth being sensible about, since sun exposure over time can add dark spots and contribute to visual signs of aging.
    — Miami Herald, Miami Herald, 1 Oct. 2026
Definition of sensible
Adjective
  • Now five decades in the business, the company framed the launch as the next logical step for a brand with products that are built to last and to be passed on between friends, families, and now shoppers.
    — Roy Stephen Canivel, Footwear News, 30 Sep. 2026
  • Eight of the trophies the club won under Mansour came during the years under investigation, so handing them over to the teams that finished behind City while following the rules seems like a logical solution.
    — Kevin Baxter, Los Angeles Times, 29 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 3 Oct. 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 tittle

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

More Commonly Mispronounced Words

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

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

7 Great Ways to Say 'Great'

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

The Words of the Week - Oct. 2

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

7 Great Ways to Say 'Great'

The Longest Long Words List
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
name tags
Words Named After People Quiz Find out who’s behind "leotard," "morphine," an...
See All