# toughen vs tougher

> English confusable word pair

## The two words

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

### tougher
*adjective · frequency rank #11,990*
comparative form of tough: more tough

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