Meaning of tough love | Babel Free

Definitions

The compassionate use of stringent disciplinary measures, to attempt to improve someone's behavior.

idiomatic, uncountable

Equivalents

Examples

“[H]e found himself surrounded by a circle of caring friends and relatives who told him one by one that they loved him but could not continue to live with him or be his friend the way he was. As one of his closest friends recalled, it was a show of tough love.”

“[W]hen it came to Latin America's economic travails, Bush adhered to the principle of tough love: no more bailouts.”

“And she offers tough love: “There are no ugly women in the world, just lazy ones,” she says during a “Mind Your Manners” hygiene lesson in which she instructs her students to smell their used dental floss to find out if they have bad breath.”

“Trump surmised: Yes, we might have our internal squabbles, but I am bringing tough love because we are all in this together. We are the standard bearers of western civilisation.”

CEFR level