thick skin

Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.

Meaning · English

Ability to withstand criticism or difficult situations without being upset

Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt

Khả năng chịu đựng chỉ trích hoặc tình huống khó khăn

Machine-translated — suggest a fix

Literally: a tough layer of skin
Where it’s used: Used Widespread English

Examples

You need to have thick skin to work in a competitive industry

AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)

Sources & notes

Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-31; pending editor spot-check.

Common questions

What does “thick skin” mean?

Ability to withstand criticism or difficult situations without being upset Literally: a tough layer of skin

Is “thick skin” formal or informal?

No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.