tough break

Idioms and Phrases

Also, tough luck . A trying or troublesome circumstance, bad luck, as in He got a tough break when he was denied a raise , or Tough luck for the team last night . This idiom uses tough in the sense of “difficult,” a usage dating from the early 1600s. The variant is also used as a sarcastic interjection, as in So you didn't make straight A's—tough luck! A slangy variant of this interjection is tough beans , and a ruder version is tough shit . [ Colloquial ; c. 1900]

Example Sentences

"Well, that certainly is one tough break for a poor little girl," Brandon sympathized.

From Project Gutenberg

It's a tough break, kid, but the sooner you forget her the better.

From Project Gutenberg

And the tough break is the both of them lives on the same block.

From Project Gutenberg

"That's the kind of tough break we get in our kind of job," Agent Carter said, and made a flip wave with his hand.

From Project Gutenberg

This would be a lucky night for the Jerries, and a tough break for the folks crouching in the darkened streets.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• adversity
• calamity
• catastrophe
• danger
• difficulty
• disaster
• discomfort
• fatigue
• grief
• hazard
• injury
• misery
• misfortune
• oppression
• peril
• persecution
• sorrow
• suffering
• torment
• trouble