tough love


noun

a mixture of toughness and warmth used in a relationship, especially with an adolescent.

Origin of tough love

First recorded in 1977; after Toughlove, a network of support groups

Example sentences from the Web for tough love

British Dictionary definitions for tough love

tough love

noun

the practice of taking a stern attitude towards a relative or friend suffering from an addiction, etc, to help the addict overcome the problem