tough vs unstable

tough

adj
  • Rowdy or rough. 

  • Harsh or severe. 

  • Difficult or demanding. 

  • Stubborn or persistent; capable of stubbornness or persistence. 

  • Strong and resilient; sturdy. 

  • Undergoing plastic deformation before breaking. 

  • Difficult to cut or chew. 

  • Rugged or physically hardy. 

verb
  • To endure. 

  • To toughen. 

intj
  • Used to indicate lack of sympathy 

noun
  • A person who obtains things by force; a thug or bully. 

unstable

adj
  • Fickle. 

  • Readily decomposable. 

  • Not stable. 

  • Radioactive, especially with a short half-life. 

  • Unpredictable. 

  • Having a strong tendency to change. 

  • Fluctuating; not constant. 

verb
  • To release (an animal) from a stable. 

How often have the words tough and unstable occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )