tough cookie

plural tough cookies

1. informalA person who can endure physical or mental hardship; a hardened, strong-willed person.

   Well you're a real tough cookie with a long history Of breaking little hearts like the one in me

   1980, Eddie Schwartz, “Hit Me with Your Best Shot”, in Crimes of Passion, performed by Pat Benatar

   4 more examples

   An austere, hard-lining rightist, who lives alone, Ioannidis is described by one Washington military official as "a real tough cookie."

   1973 December 10, “Ioannidis: Power in the Wings”, in Time

   I run to Micki and give her a hug. She was racing with a broken thumb — a tough cookie, just like me.

   2002, Picabo Street, Dana White, Picabo: Nothing to Hide, Contemporary Books, →ISBN, page 6

   "Although she's a small-framed woman, we all believed she came through the Marines and maybe ate nails for breakfast because she's one tough cookie," said Horace Taylor […]

   2005 October 3, Liz Austin, “Miers had stormy tenure at Texas Lottery Commission”, in Spokesman-Review

   Donald Trump called Norris “a great guy” when asked about him as he boarded Air Force One. “He was a really good tough cookie,” Trump said. “We didn’t want to fight him.”

   2026 March 20, Andrew Pulver, “Chuck Norris, prolific action star and martial arts champion, dies aged 86”, in The Guardian, →ISSN

   Synonyms: survivor, trooper

2. informalA hardy, resilient animal or plant.

   Boxwood is a pretty tough cookie. Wind, cold, wet, exhaust fumes, and industrial pollution are of no consequence.

   2001, Sybille Engels, Basic Gardening: Everything You Need to Make Your Garden Grow, Silverback Books, →ISBN, page 134

   1 more example

   Though its name is Cupcake, Tristan Carter's cat proved it was one tough cookie surviving on its own since Hurricane Katrina forced Carter to abandon it […]

   2006 March 13, “Katrina Cat”, in Jet

3. informalSomething troublesome or difficult to handle.

   The pup that struggles constantly might be one tough cookie when it comes to training; […]

   2002, Steven Smith, editor, Encyclopedia of North American Sporting Dogs, Willow Creek Press, →ISBN, page 63