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tough love

Tough love is defined as being strict discipline or imposing specific obligations or requirements on a person to mandate responsibility because you care for that individual.

(noun)

An example of tough love is when a parent punishes a child for getting bad grades or for not keeping his promises.

See tough love in Webster's New World College Dictionary

☆

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

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

See tough love in American Heritage Dictionary 4

noun

The use of strict disciplinary measures and limitations on freedoms or privileges, as by a parent or guardian, as a means of fostering responsibility and expressing care or concern.

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