toughness
noun
toughness is spelled T-O-U-G-H-N-E-S-S: 9 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 2.0 times per million words in written English, the 19,336th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, toughness means “Resistance to fracture when stressed, or the degree of such resistance” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of toughness is toughnesses.
How many letters and syllables are in toughness?
| Letters | 9: T-O-U-G-H-N-E-S-S |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 2.0 times per million words; the 19,336th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is toughness?
Toughness appears 2.0 times per million words in written English, the 19,336th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce toughness?
Toughness has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-toughness.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of toughness
- toughnesses plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does toughness mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
Resistance to fracture when stressed, or the degree of such resistance.
- 2
Fortitude; hardiness; mettle.
- 3
A formidable difficulty.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Toughness in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense state of being tough:
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does toughness come from?
From Middle English toughnesse, towghnesse, towghenesse, equivalent to tough + -ness.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).