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手ごわい (てごわい, tegowai) Japanese meaning: tough | Kotomora
Common word› Freq. Frequency Top 100,000 Conjugation 手ごわい · i-adjective
Form Positive Negative Dictionary 手て ごわい 手て ごわくない Polite 手て ごわいです 手て ごわくないです also 手て ごわくありません Past polite 手て ごわかったです 手て ごわくなかったです also 手て ごわくありませんでした Past 手て ごわかった 手て ごわくなかった Te-form 手て ごわくて 手て ごわくなくて Adverbial 手て ごわく Conditional 手て ごわければ 手て ごわくなければ Tara conditional 手て ごわかったら 手て ごわくなかったら
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Our next opponent is tough.
This problem is so difficult that I just can't solve it.
Usage patterns 〈 相あい 手て 〉 は 手て ごわい (someone/something) is a tough opponent
This next opponent is going to be tough.
手て ごわい 相あい 手て a formidable opponent
I realized she was a formidable opponent.
手て ごわい 敵てき a formidable enemy
This game has a lot of formidable enemies.
Related words 難しい is the general word for 'difficult' (intellectual or technical complexity), while 手ごわい specifically describes an opponent or task that resists being overcome.
強敵 is a noun meaning 'formidable opponent', whereas 手ごわい is the adjective describing the quality of being tough to beat.
Don't confuse with 手強い (てごわい) means 'tough, formidable' (e.g. a strong opponent), while 手堅い (てがたい) means 'sound, reliable, low-risk' — easy to mix up because of the shared 手 and similar sound.
Written forms 手て ごわい Usage 48%
Common mixed kanji-kana spelling; preferred in news and general use.
手て 強ごわ い Usage 47%
Full kanji spelling; less common but still encountered.
てごわい Usage 5%
Etymology Compound of 手 (hand, means) and 強い (strong, tough). The reading ごわい is a voiced form of こわい (strong, stiff), indicating a sense of being hard to handle or overcome.
