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tough going

ADJECTIVE
strenuous
Synonyms
STRONGEST
arduous demanding exhausting laborious taxing uphill
WEAK
effortful energy-consuming hard herculean mean operose toilful toilsome tough wicked
Antonyms
STRONGEST
easy facile trivial
WEAK
apathetic effortless enervated lethargic unenthusiastic

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

But the effort to build it up as a ChatGPT alternative has been tough going.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 4, 2026

Robins, like so many before him, found life tough going after being appointed as Stoke City's third boss of the season in December.

From BBC • Aug. 8, 2025

Ronel Blanco has certainly filled in nicely, throwing a no-hitter April 1, but it’s been tough going otherwise.

From Seattle Times • Apr. 15, 2024

It’s been particularly tough going for House members running statewide.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 14, 2024

It was tough going through the saw briers and underbrush.

From "Summer of the Monkeys" by Wilson Rawls