tough
/tʌf/
"tough" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“tough” has 7 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #1,777. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #1,777
- frequency rank, English
- 27,828
- “T” headwords
- 7
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Strong and resilient; sturdy.
Corpus desk
Index EN-tough · tough · English
tough · rank #1,777 · 7 variants · 20 confusables
- FREQ-COMMON #1,777
- LEN-MID 5 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
- VAR-MID 7 variants
- BOOK-DENSE 27,828
- PHOTO-FINISH thousands
Nearest frequency peer: thousands (-1 rank slots)
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
Frequency neighbourhood for “tough”
Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)
- skills
skills
98,227 corpus weight
- software
software
98,226 corpus weight
- thousands
thousands
98,225 corpus weight
- tough
tough
98,224 corpus weight
- units
units
98,223 corpus weight
- AD
AD
98,222 corpus weight
What this shows Bars show where “tough” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | tough |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /tʌf/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #1,777 |
| Misspellings tracked | 7 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “tough” sits in English frequency
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 7 spelling variants around tough (IPA /tʌf/), anadjective. Corpus frequency is #1,777 among 27,828 “T” headwords. Wiktionary lists 9 senses, so context still picks the gloss.
Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for tough, with forms such as "otugh", "toguh", and "touggh". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "tug", "tour", "tout", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English tough, towgh, tou, toȝ, from Old English tōh (“tough, tenacious, holding fast together; pliant; sticky, glutinous, clammy”), from Proto-West Germanic *tą̄h(ī), from Proto-Germanic *tanhuz (“fitting; clinging; tenacious; tough”), from Pro… The correct English form is tough, spelled T-O-U-G-H.
Definition
- 1Strong and resilient; sturdy.
- 2Difficult to cut or chew.
- 3Rugged or physically hardy.
- 4Stubborn or persistent; capable of stubbornness or persistence.
- 5Harsh or severe.
- 6Rowdy or rough.
- 7Difficult or demanding.
- 8Undergoing plastic deformation before breaking.
- 9Strict, not lenient.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how tough appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
The tent, made of tough canvas, held up to many abuses.
To soften a tough cut of meat, the recipe suggested simmering it for hours.
Etymology
From Middle English tough, towgh, tou, toȝ, from Old English tōh (“tough, tenacious, holding fast together; pliant; sticky, glutinous, clammy”), from Proto-West Germanic *tą̄h(ī), from Proto-Germanic *tanhuz (“fitting; clinging; tenacious; tough”), from Proto-Indo-European *denḱ- (“to bite”). Cognates Cognate with Saterland Frisian toai, Low German tei, tah, tage, Dutch taai, Luxembourgish zéi, German zäh(e), Bavarian zaach, all principally “chewy, leathery, sticky”, and hence “tenacious, resilient, dogged”.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- otugh
- toguh
- touggh
- toughh
- touhg
- ttough
- tuogh
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of tough - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of May 6, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "tough"?
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "tough", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
Similar misspelling depth
Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (7 here; floor ≥5).
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.