# tough vs toughen

> English confusable word pair

## The two words

### tough
*adjective · IPA /tʌf/ · frequency rank #1,777*
Strong and resilient; sturdy.

### toughen
*verb · IPA /ˈtʌfən/ · frequency rank #44,534*
To make tough.

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tough-vs-toughen