What's the difference between formidable and tough?

Formidable


Definition:

  • (a.) Exciting fear or apprehension; impressing dread; adapted to excite fear and deter from approach, encounter, or undertaking; alarming.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) This implementation reduced a formidable task to a relatively routine run.
  • (2) It’s likely Xi’s brand of smart authoritarianism will keep not just his party in power but the whole show on the road If all this were to succeed as intended, western liberal democratic capitalism would have a formidable ideological competitor with worldwide appeal, especially in the developing world.
  • (3) That led to the second breakthrough, as the once formidable laws of omerta - silence punishable by death - cracked.
  • (4) "This is a formidable challenge, requiring step changes in the rate at which we improve our energy efficiency and in low-carbon innovation.The Carbon Trust's proposals recognise the need for us to be smarter in focusing our investments, including to help businesses seize the economic opportunities of the transition."
  • (5) The Fellowship combines the academic rigour of an MBA with the reflective and ideological framework of a wellness retreat in Bali; without the sun and spa treatments, but with the added element of the formidable Dame Mary Marsh, a great example of a woman leading as a former headteacher, charity chief executive, NED and leadership development campaigner.
  • (6) But it also demonstrated that he remains a formidably well-connected political player.
  • (7) Since then, Amazon has expanded into other retail categories, such as food, clothing and electricals, and developed a formidable cloud computing service, its own television shows and an electronic personal assistant for people’s homes.
  • (8) As in their previous home game against Leicester City, Everton equalised swiftly through the formidable Lukaku.
  • (9) The difficulties encountered in good experimental design in this formidable area, which may account for the paucity of work, are discussed.
  • (10) Tumor cell heterogeneity is now recognized as the principal cause of treatment failure in cancer, and is a formidable obstacle to effective therapy and to the development of drug delivery systems for selective targeting of antineoplastic agents to tumor cells.
  • (11) A formidable war chest from decades in various businesses has also helped, but it has come with allegations of corruption dating back to his time as a customs official.
  • (12) Bacterial endocarditis remains a formidable diagnostic and therapeutic problem for clinicians.
  • (13) Patients having a double-outlet right ventricle with an unfavorable anatomy for reparative conduit procedure present a formidable surgical challenge.
  • (14) He has strongly insisted that he acted within the law and has assembled a formidable legal team – part-funded by taxpayer money – to fight the accusations.
  • (15) As it is, the team were careless with a comfortable lead in Jamaica (but got away with it ), formidable in their movement against an outclassed Panama , and struggled to get going in the heat and altitude of their game against Honduras .
  • (16) The peptide chemists are facing formidable challenges borne by a continually increasing interest in the pharmaceutical uses of peptides.
  • (17) Graduate physicians face formidable developmental tasks during residency training as they prepare for their professional careers.
  • (18) The hectic pace of office practice can make full assessment of the patient difficult and state-of-the-art management a formidable goal.
  • (19) In classic von Willebrand's disease (vWd), assignment of the heterozygous genotype for genetic studies and diagnosis for clinical purposes (which are not exactly the same) are formidable problems.
  • (20) "It will be a formidably difficult negotiation," he said.

Tough


Definition:

  • (superl.) Having the quality of flexibility without brittleness; yielding to force without breaking; capable of resisting great strain; as, the ligaments of animals are remarkably tough.
  • (superl.) Not easily broken; able to endure hardship; firm; strong; as, tough sinews.
  • (superl.) Not easily separated; viscous; clammy; tenacious; as, tough phlegm.
  • (superl.) Stiff; rigid; not flexible; stubborn; as, a tough bow.
  • (superl.) Severe; violent; as, a tough storm.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) Photograph: Guardian The research also compiled data covered by a wider definition of tax haven, including onshore jurisdictions such as the US state of Delaware – accused by the Cayman islands of playing "faster and looser" even than offshore jurisdictions – and the Republic of Ireland, which has come under sustained pressure from other EU states to reform its own low-tax, light-tough, regulatory environment.
  • (2) Nick Robins, head of the Climate Change Centre at HSBC, said: "If you think about low-carbon energy only in terms of carbon, then things look tough [in terms of not using coal].
  • (3) A series of hierarchical multiple regressions revealed the effects of Surgency, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, Emotional Stability, and Intellect on evoking upset in spouses through condescension (e.g., treating spouse as stupid or inferior), possessiveness (demanding too much time and attention), abuse (slapping spouse), unfaithfulness (having sex with others), inconsiderateness (leaving toilet seat up), moodiness (crying a lot), alcohol abuse (drinking too much alcohol), emotional constriction (hiding emotions to act tough), and self-centeredness (acting selfishly).
  • (4) A lfred Ekpenyong knows first hand how tough it can be to find a secure foothold in mainstream society after leaving prison.
  • (5) The texture of a food item can be distinguished in hardness, toughness, stickiness, juiciness and chewability.
  • (6) Even as the Obama administration moves to deal with some of Guantánamo's most notorious captives, it faces tough challenges to closing the facility.
  • (7) "It's a tough group but other groups are also tough.
  • (8) This allowed it to claim that it was becoming more professional, tough minded and responsible.
  • (9) The austerity programmes administered by western governments in the wake of the 2008 global financial crisis were, of course, intended as a remedy, a tough but necessary course of treatment to relieve the symptoms of debts and deficits and to cure recession.
  • (10) And he pleased the audience with an acknowledgement that social work is a tough job and social workers only human.
  • (11) Trade unions have sought to highlight the insecurity of workers who have been forced into self-employment in the tough jobs market of recent years.
  • (12) UK negotiatiors, though, fought back hard -- thus Cameron's fighting talk in his press conference ( see 12.46pm ) 12.49pm BST Open Europe tweets Cameron's tough talk on the rebate: Open Europe (@OpenEurope) Cameron: in Feb we reached a clear deal rebate would remain unchanged, since then some have tried to question this agreement June 28, 2013 Open Europe (@OpenEurope) Cameron: I defeated these attempts to change the rebate, it will remain unchanged for this long term budget June 28, 2013 12.46pm BST David Cameron press conference underway In Brussels, David Cameron is holding his press conference now.
  • (13) The mechanical properties of compressed beam specimens of microcrystalline cellulose (Avicel pH 101) have been assessed in terms of the tensile strength (sigma t), Young's modulus (E) and the following fracture mechanics parameters: the critical stress intensity factor (KIC), the critical strain energy release rate (GIC) and the fracture toughness (R).
  • (14) "2013 was a tough year for us both in minerals and in oil and gas," Cochrane said, adding that the group had relied on"self help", including diversification which offset some of the challenges in its core mining market, improving operational efficiency, and strong growth in its after sales business, where orders were up 16% on 2012 and which accounted for 63% of revenues last year.
  • (15) "We carved out a few chances, but it was tough to break them down."
  • (16) Channel 5 will be hoping for a similar return for its new series, although with the launch audience around a third down on last year's opener, it may prove a tough ask.
  • (17) Dimon, the charismatic leader of the bank, had enjoyed a reputation as a tough, strict taskmaster, the kind of CEO every bank should have.
  • (18) Cameron put all of his betting chips on what seemed to be the party's trump card: the "vote for us, we're tough on migration and tough on migrants" strategy.
  • (19) As well as limited terms for MPs, Grillo has called for a referendum on the euro and a tough line on immigration.
  • (20) "It's a tough game but our best football has come in this competition and we'll try and show it next week.