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tough love definition

☆ tough love

a disciplinary technique, as for a young person or a loved one, in which a seemingly harsh or unfeeling course of action is chosen deliberately over one demonstrating the tenderness or forbearance instinctively felt

Etymology: < TOUGHLOVE, a trademark for a program offering family counseling

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2009 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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