Idiom idiom
toughen up
Meaning
To make or become mentally tougher.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Examples
“You need to toughen up if you want to play this sport.”
“The coach told the players to toughen up after they complained about the difficult training session.”
“Facing the harsh realities of the industry, she realized she had to toughen up to survive in such a competitive environment.”
Anchors to
Last updated August 10, 2026