tough guy

1. 1.

   someone who bullies weaker people

   Synonymsplug-ugly

   Broaderbully

   NarrowerTed

Questions about tough guy

What does tough guy mean?

tough guy means "someone who bullies weaker people".

What is another word for tough guy?

Close synonyms include plug-ugly. Each sense on this page lists its own synonyms, because a word with several meanings rarely has one substitute that works for all of them.

Is tough guy a common word?

tough guy is banded "Uncommon" — turns up in careful writing rather than conversation. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.