Meaning & use
tough job
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Meanings
phrasecountable
A task or piece of work that is very difficult and takes a lot of effort.
Grammar: Countable: you can say a tough job or two tough jobs, and the plural is tough jobs.
Patterns
- a tough job for someone
- a tough job to do
- be a tough job
Cleaning the whole kitchen after the party was a tough job.
Finding a replacement at such short notice will be a tough job.
It's a tough job, but someone has to do it.
phraseusually singular
A role or position that is very hard to do well, especially because of pressure or responsibility.
Grammar: Often used with the, as in the tough job of managing a team; it describes the position itself, not one task.
Patterns
- the tough job of doing something
- have a tough job
She has the tough job of telling staff about the layoffs.
Being a referee is a tough job when the crowd disagrees with you.
Word forms
| plural | tough jobs |
|---|
Common combinations
- a really tough job
- Moving all the furniture upstairs was a really tough job.
- a tough job to do
- This is a tough job to do without any help.
- face a tough job
- The new coach faces a tough job rebuilding the squad.
- do a tough job
- The nurses do a tough job every single day.
- a tough job for someone
- Learning three languages at once is a tough job for anyone.
Synonyms and how they differ
- hard task
- Slightly more formal and often used in writing about work or study.
- challenge
- Focuses on the difficulty as something to overcome, and sounds more positive than tough job.
- chore
- Means a boring regular job around the house, so it is about dullness rather than difficulty.
Opposites
Word family
- tough adjective
- Difficult to do or deal with.
- toughness noun
- The quality of being strong or difficult.
Commonly confused: tough job or tough luck?
tough job vs tough luck
An informal phrase meaning bad luck, said when you do not feel sorry for someone; it is not a job at all.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'tough job' correctly?
Choose one answer.
'Tough job' is a countable noun phrase, so it needs an article or a plural: 'was a tough job' works. Option A uses the wrong pattern (we say 'did a good job on the report'), and C and D treat the phrase as if it were a verb.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “tough job”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.