tough-minded

adjective

Definition of tough-mindednext
as in unsentimental

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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
  • This autobiography of Graves’ youth remains one of the greatest accounts of the war; unsentimental, often comic, but unflinching in its portrayal of battle and of postwar trauma.
    — Tom Chivers, semafor.com, 3 Aug. 2026
  • Yet Gabriele is notably unsentimental about the prestige attached to any particular stockist.
    — Kate Hardcastle, Forbes.com, 28 July 2026
Definition of unsentimental
Adjective
  • Despite those strong results, AMD plunged 8% in premarket trading — a sign that investors were left unimpressed by the slight top and bottom-line beat.
    — Liz Napolitano, CNBC, 5 Aug. 2026
  • Without data, your marketing partner is measuring in a vacuum and only providing you with metrics of their marketing efforts, rather than measuring those efforts against bottom-line results.
    — Samantha Scott, Forbes.com, 29 July 2026
Definition of bottom-line
Adjective
  • Gorgeous cinematography and a very unromantic portrayal of the grueling life of a secret agent make this a solid watch.
    — K. Thor Jensen, PC Magazine, 29 May 2026
  • This idea was supposed to be the kind of thing that could convince even the most unromantic skeptics that space exploration was not only spiritually fulfilling, but economically advantageous.
    — Elena Saavedra Buckley, Harpers Magazine, 21 Apr. 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 writing a 10-page proposal yields $30,000 in capital faster than closing 50 cold calls, a rational business owner will devote their afternoons to proposal writing.
    — AllBusiness, Forbes.com, 1 Aug. 2026
  • So much for the rational part of an exasperating season that marked the first time since 2014 that the Chiefs failed to make the playoffs.
    — Vahe Gregorian July 31, Kansas City Star, 31 July 2026
Definition of rational
Adjective
  • Most sensible observers will recognise that his level of influence sits somewhere in the middle.
    — Gregg Evans, New York Times, 31 July 2026
  • By Season 6, however, Schroeder had evolved into the most sensible person on the Bravo hit, and her love affair with Beau Clark won over the audience’s hearts.
    — Marlow Stern, Variety, 30 July 2026
Definition of sensible
Adjective
  • The classical compute needed to interpret the error data—called the syndrome—of a logical qubit is substantial.
    — ArsTechnica, ArsTechnica, 5 Aug. 2026
  • Then Saturday, a deluge of rain in the afternoon forced Mayor James Dodge to make the logical but still tough, call to cancel the second day of 23rd running of the Taste of Orland Park.
    — Jeff Vorva, Chicago Tribune, 3 Aug. 2026
Definition of logical

Browse Nearby Words

toughly
tough-minded
toughness
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Cite this Entry

“Tough-minded.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/tough-minded. Accessed 7 Aug. 2026.

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