A tough cookie is a person who is hard to break or scare: My grandmother is a tough cookie; she rebuilt her business after the flood. It's usually a compliment to someone's strength. One tough cookie sounds even stronger, with admiration.
When would you say a tough cookie?
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be a tough cookie; one tough cookie
- My grandmother is a tough cookie; she rebuilt her business after the flood.
- You will not pressure Ravi into agreeing; he is one tough cookie.
- The volunteers were tough cookies who kept working through a difficult winter.
What changed
First versionMina is tough cookie and will not give up after one rejection.
RevisionMina is a tough cookie and will not give up after one rejection.
Tough describes the person, so is tough cookie can look like is tough. But cookie is countable: one person, a tough cookie. Add a.
A hard nut to crack is a person who is hard to understand or persuade. A tough cookie is a person who is hard to defeat. Stubborn is often a criticism, while tough cookie almost always sounds like praise.
Your turn
Complete the informal description of a resilient person: My aunt is a ___ cookie: nothing scares her.
Show the answer
tough — A resilient person is a tough cookie. A hard cookie isn't the idiom.
Describe someone who didn't give up after a serious setback. Use a tough cookie.
My neighbour is a tough cookie: after losing her shop, she started again with a small market stall.
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