The difference between Hard and Tough

When used as nouns, hard means a firm or paved beach or slope convenient for hauling vessels out of the water, whereas tough means a person who obtains things by force.

When used as adjectives, hard means having a severe property, whereas tough means strong and resilient.

Hard is also adverb with the meaning: with much force or effort.

Tough is also verb with the meaning: to endure.

check bellow for the other definitions of Hard and Tough

  1. Hard as an adjective (of material or fluid):

    Having a severe property; presenting difficulty. Resistant to pressure. Strong. High in dissolved chemical salts, especially those of calcium. Having the capability of being a permanent magnet by being a material with high magnetic coercivity (compare soft).

    Examples:

    "This bread is so stale and hard, I can barely cut it."

  2. Hard as an adjective (personal or social):

    Having a severe property; presenting difficulty. Requiring a lot of effort to do or understand. Demanding a lot of effort to endure. Severe, harsh, unfriendly, brutal. Difficult to resist or control; powerful.

    Examples:

    "a hard problem"

    "a hard life"

    "a hard master;  a hard heart;  hard words;  a hard character"

    "don't be so hard on yourself"

  3. Hard as an adjective:

    Unquestionable.

    Examples:

    "'hard evidence"

  4. Hard as an adjective (of a road intersection):

    Having a comparatively larger or a ninety-degree angle.

    Examples:

    "At the intersection, there are two roads going to the left. Take the hard left."

  5. Hard as an adjective (slang, vulgar, of a [[male]]):

    Sexually aroused.

    Examples:

    "I got so hard watching two hot guys wrestle each other on the beach."

  6. Hard as an adjective (bodybuilding):

    Having muscles that are tightened as a result of intense, regular exercise.

  7. Hard as an adjective (phonetics, uncomparable):

    Plosive. Unvoiced Velarized or plain, rather than palatalized

    Examples:

    "There is a hard ''c'' in "clock" and a soft ''c'' in "centre"."

    "'Hard ''k'', ''t'', ''s'', ''ch'', as distinguished from soft, ''g'', ''d'', ''z'', ''j''."

    "The letter m ru ж in Russian is always hard."

  8. Hard as an adjective (arts):

    Having a severe property; presenting a barrier to enjoyment. Rigid in the drawing or distribution of the figures; formal; lacking grace of composition. Having disagreeable and abrupt contrasts in colour or shading.

  9. Hard as an adjective (uncomparable):

    In the form of a hard copy.

    Examples:

    "We need both a digital archive and a hard archive."

  1. Hard as an adverb (manner):

    With much force or effort.

    Examples:

    "He hit the puck hard up the ice."

    "They worked hard all week."

    "At the intersection, bear hard left."

    "The recession hit them especially hard."

    "Think hard about your choices."

  2. Hard as an adverb (manner):

    With difficulty.

    Examples:

    "His degree was hard earned."

    "The vehicle moves hard."

  3. Hard as an adverb (obsolete):

    So as to raise difficulties.

  4. Hard as an adverb (manner):

    Compactly.

    Examples:

    "The lake had finally frozen hard."

  5. Hard as an adverb (now, archaic):

    Near, close.

  1. Hard as a noun (countable, nautical):

    A firm or paved beach or slope convenient for hauling vessels out of the water.

  2. Hard as a noun (uncountable, drugs, colloquial, slang):

    crack cocaine.

  3. Hard as a noun (motorsports):

  1. Tough as an adjective:

    Strong and resilient; sturdy.

    Examples:

    "The tent, made of tough canvas, held up to many abuses."

  2. Tough as an adjective (of food):

    Difficult to cut or chew.

    Examples:

    "To soften a tough cut of meat, the recipe suggested simmering it for hours."

  3. Tough as an adjective:

    Rugged or physically hardy.

    Examples:

    "Only a tough species will survive in the desert."

  4. Tough as an adjective:

    Stubborn.

    Examples:

    "He had a reputation as a tough negotiator."

  5. Tough as an adjective (of weather etc):

    Harsh or severe.

  6. Tough as an adjective:

    Rowdy or rough.

    Examples:

    "A bunch of the tough boys from the wrong side of the tracks threatened him."

  7. Tough as an adjective (of questions, etc.):

    Difficult or demanding.

    Examples:

    "This is a tough crowd."

  8. Tough as an adjective (material science):

    Undergoing plastic deformation before breaking.

  1. Tough as a noun:

    A person who obtains things by force; a thug or bully.

    Examples:

    "They were doing fine until they encountered a bunch of toughs from the opposition."

  1. Tough as a verb:

    To endure.

  2. Tough as a verb:

    To toughen.

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