TOUGHLY Synonyms: 62 Similar and Opposite Words

toughly

adverb

Definition of toughly

as in strongly

Related Words

Relevance

Dissimilar Words

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for toughly

Adverb

The final agreement did not include changes to that practice and was ultimately not voted on by the Legislature after the last-minute deal was strongly criticized, particularly by assembly members.

— Stephen Hobbs, Sacbee.com, 16 Oct. 2026
Netflix strongly encourages employees to take a portion of their pay in the form of equity, but with shares down more than 45 percent from a year ago employees who have done so are feeling the pain.

— Mia Galuppo, HollywoodReporter, 16 Oct. 2026

Definition of strongly

Adverb

Both carriers are discounting more aggressively while protecting margins, though the discounts skew toward large customers and widen the gap between headline rates and what smaller shippers pay.

— Glenn Taylor, Footwear News, 16 Oct. 2026
Pay down debt aggressively and consider selling non-core assets while valuations are still high.

— Expert Panel®, Forbes.com, 16 Oct. 2026

Definition of aggressively

Adverb

The index has lost almost 40% since its June high and is firmly entrenched in bear market.

— Justina Lee,Sean Conlon, CNBC, 15 Oct. 2026
The reality is the situation in Nashville couldn't possibly be any worse, with the franchise firmly sitting at rock bottom.

— Mark Harris OutKick, FOXNews.com, 14 Oct. 2026

Definition of firmly

Adverb

Nina nodded and looked across the restaurant to watch two tall women, flight attendants, striding resolutely through the concourse, their legs in perfect rhythm.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 16 Oct. 2026
The time-only two-hander is resolutely Brutalist in style, with sharp, geometric lines, an ultra-thin rectangular case, and bold pops of burgundy.

— Rachel Cormack, Robb Report, 10 Oct. 2026

Definition of resolutely

Adverb

Ellison’s management team will have to cut costs assertively, in part by streamlining some of Paramount and Warner’s overlapping tech platforms.

— Brian Stelter, CNN Money, 6 Oct. 2026
Sinner expects a lack of rhythm and for Zverev to put their past aside and come out assertively.

— Ava Wallace, New York Times, 12 July 2026

Definition of assertively

Adverb

Though based on the visuals of the past, his output is determinedly contemporary.

— Laird Borrelli-Persson, Vogue, 25 Sep. 2026
Blue-collar Ho-seok (Sul), a man traumatized by losing his factory job after a workers’ strike, lives a quiet life with his determinedly optimistic wife, Mi-ok (Jeon).

— Patrick Brzeski, HollywoodReporter, 14 Sep. 2026

Definition of determinedly

Adverb

In that film, a director famous for comedies yearns to make grimly earnest movies about the Depression, but learns that what people in dire straits crave is the distraction and release of comedy.

— Richard Brody, New Yorker, 15 Oct. 2026
Gun purchases made in response to events have been shown, grimly, to lead to still more accidental gun deaths.

— Vishal R. Patel, Time, 9 Aug. 2026

Definition of grimly

Adverb

Their opinions were decidedly split about whether these tools were useful out of the box, without a ton of oversight and training by the user.

— Adam Clark Estes, Vox, 16 Oct. 2026
Daisy Edgar-Jones and Esmé Creed-Miles star as the down-on-their-luck Dashwood sisters, who are forced to move from their fine family estate into the decidedly more modest Barton Cottage.

— Nicholas DeRenzo, Condé Nast Traveler, 16 Oct. 2026

Definition of decidedly

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Cite this Entry

Style

“Toughly.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/toughly. Accessed 21 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation

Synonyms of toughly

adverb

Example Sentences

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

jilt

Popular in Grammar & Usage

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'Can' vs. 'May'

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

More Commonly Mispronounced Words

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

Popular in Wordplay

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Did 'orange' the fruit or the color come first?

Even More Bird Names that Sound Like Insults (and Sometimes Are)

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World

Popular

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Games & Quizzes