get tough with

1. Become harsh, severe, unyielding with someone. For example, We have to get tough with these people or we'll get nowhere. [c. 1930]

Example Sentences

You feel underestimated nine times out of 10, and you’ve got to get tough with that and get used to it and know that it’s not personal.

From Los Angeles Times

Mainstream parties could patch together winning coalitions with banker-friendly fiscal policies and modest doses of right-wing culture war — promising to get tough with immigrants, indulge anti-trans hysteria and crack down on rhetorical wokeness — without entirely going over to the Dark Side.

From Salon

“So much of what we see now about the war in Vietnam is a function of the individual personalities and characters of people and their inability to just get tough with themselves.”

From Salon

His strategy has therefore been to get tough with Pyongyang.

From BBC

The 2021 law was among attempts by the U.S to get tough with China over its alleged systemic and widespread abuse of ethnic and religious minorities in its western region, especially the Uyghurs.

From Seattle Times

Related Words

• argue 
• bicker 
• break with 
• carp 
• complain 
• differ 
• fall out 
• feud 
• spar 
• squabble 
• tangle 
• wrangle