Word.ws English Dictionary

tough on crime

tough on crime adjective: that establishes stricter criminal penalties, especially as a reaction to violent and property crime.

Adjective

tough on crime (comparative more tough on crime, superlative most tough on crime)

  1. That establishes stricter criminal penalties, especially as a reaction to violent and property crime.
    • Biden will face skepticism from reform advocates critical of his role championing tough on crime legislation that had a disproportionate impact on low income communities and communities of color.2020 December 14, Candice Norwood, Daniel Bush, “What a Biden administration could mean for criminal justice reform”, in PBS Newshour
    • “As soon as I am inaugurated, I will direct the Justice Department to vigorously pursue the death penalty to protect American families and children from violent rapists, murderers, and monsters. We will be a Nation of Law and Order again!” Trump wrote on Truth Social, echoing his long-standing...2024 December 24, Aaron Pellish, “Trump says he will direct Justice Department to ‘vigorously pursue the death penalty’”, in CNN

Forms of tough on crime

comparativemore tough on crime
superlativemost tough on crime

Questions about tough on crime

What does tough on crime mean?
Tough on crime means that establishes stricter criminal penalties, especially as a reaction to violent and property crime.
What part of speech is tough on crime?
Tough on crime is an adjective.

Words near tough on crime in the dictionary

  1. tough noogies
  2. tough nut
  3. tough nut to crack
  4. tough nuts
  5. tough nuts to crack
  6. tough on crime
  7. tough out
  8. tough pill to swallow
  9. tough pills to swallow
  10. tough road to hoe
  11. tough row to hoe

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: tough on crime (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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