tough break

tough break

1. An adverse circumstance resulting in misfortune or hardships; an instance of bad luck. John's had some tough breaks lately, between losing his job and getting in that horrible car accident just two weeks later. It was a tough break for the team who had come so close yet again to finally getting into the playoffs.
2. An interjection of mild or insincere sympathy for someone else's misfortune. A: "When my parents said I'd be getting a car for my birthday, I didn't think it would be some beat-up old van like this!" B: "Sorry, tough break pal. It's still cool that you got a car, though!" Tough break, Tom. Better luck next time!
See also: break, tough
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

tough break

a bit of bad fortune. I'm sorry to hear about your accident. Tough break. John had a lot of tough breaks when he was a kid, but he's doing okay now.
See also: break, tough
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.

tough break

Also, tough luck. A trying or troublesome circumstance, bad luck, as in He got a tough break when he was denied a raise, or Tough luck for the team last night. This idiom uses tough in the sense of "difficult," a usage dating from the early 1600s. The variant is also used as a sarcastic interjection, as in So you didn't make straight A's-tough luck! A slangy variant of this interjection is tough beans, and a ruder version is tough shit. [Colloquial; c. 1900]
See also: break, tough
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.

tough break

n. a bit of bad luck. You’ve had a lot of tough breaks lately.
See also: break, tough
McGraw-Hill's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions
See also:
  • tough luck
  • bad luck
  • a streak of bad luck
  • a string of bad luck
  • a run of bad luck
  • bad trot
  • bad iron
  • Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away, the
  • be down on (one's) luck
  • be down on your luck
References in periodicals archive
Tough break for Wales but the correct decision rugbyman2016 Are we giving out caps again against the Baa-baas?
WEBCHAT; Nigel Owens to referee Wales for the first time after special dispensation
TOUGH BREAK Sean O'Brien suffered yet more bad luck on injury front
DESPERATE DAN; Leavy is champing at the bit to face All Blacks after shining off the bench
I got a tough break on 14 but then I made back-to- back birdies -- it was great to be able to bounce back like that."
Cruising AHEAD
I got a tough break on 14 but then I made back-to-back birdies -- it was great to be able to bounce back like that." Also making moves up the Rankings were England's Charlie Ford, the Netherlands' Daan Huizing and Scotland's Jack Doherty -- who all finished five shots behind Sordet in second place.
NBO Golf Classic: Clement Sordet wins Viking Challenge on 'Road to Oman'
We struggled a lot without him and it's a tough break. He's coming from an injury in that ankle and he tweaked it twice in the last minute he played, so we couldn't react to his absence."
Kawhi Injury Gives Spurs Little Hope In Game 2
"There's a lot of victim-blaming that happens, unfortunately, and in particular men get a really tough break with this."
Victims 'blamed' for revenge porn
A REAL TOUGH BREAK Luke Shaw suffers a broken leg in a challenge from PSV's Hector Moreno
BERT'S A CERT; Ryan: I'm gutted for pal Shaw but I'll make that No.3 shirt my own
Hopefully, he comes back from this tough break thougher.
North East boys have the perfect chance to shine in the big Arena next weekend; After Bradley Saunders was forced to withdraw from the April 4 boxing bill at the Arena Glenn McCrory says the rest need to step up
however, Cerro got a tough break in the Libertadores when drawing Brazilian serie A leaders Cruzeiro, and Leo Astrada's men enter tonight's match in great form after a nine-match unbeaten run.
Cerro can knock out champs
It's a tough break for Sears customers who found themselves saddled with what they claim is a bum washing machine.
Supreme Court won't hear consumer case against Sears
"Sometimes in the middle of a round, something happens that spurs you to some better play, and I got a little bit of a tough break on seven on my tee ball.
Bo Van Pelt out to dominate final round Down Under
They speculate, however, that it would tear the Milky Way apart--one tough break for whatever life forms inhabit the galaxy at the time.
Fate of the galaxy: for Milky Way, past is prologue
"I may have had a tough break, but I have an awful lot to live for."
Farewell to Yankee Stadium
And being thin is healthier than being fat." Then again, between 2 million and 3 million North Koreans probably starved to death during a famine in the 1990s, a tough break for the country's health statistics.
Starvation diet