Dictionary

tenderness en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• (US) audio
• /ˈtɛn.dɚ.nɪs/ (General-American)
• /ˈtɛn.də.nɪs/ (Received-Pronunciation)

Etymology

From tender + -ness.

Meanings

1. (countable, uncountable) Quality, state or condition of being tender.
   • He picked her up in his arms with great tenderness.
2. (countable, uncountable) A tendency to express warm, compassionate feelings.
   • I had known him jealous, suspicious; I had seen about him certain tendernesses, fitfulnesses—a softness which came like a warm air, and a ruth which passed like early dew, dried in the heat of his irritabilities: this was all I had seen. 1853, Charlotte Brontë, Villette:
   • When the lovers were together, their cold indifference gave way to love and tenderness.
   • YSL, as he is often called, is equally capable of casual, aristocratic cruelty and earthy, spontaneous tenderness, and when you study his face it can be hard to distinguish boredom from rapture. 2015 May 7, A. O. Scott, “Review: ‘Saint Laurent,’ Beautiful People, High Fashion and Career at Its Pinnacle”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, archived from the original on 18 Sep 2019:
   • Love me, try to be understanding / Tenderness is all that I'm asking / Don't feel like I'm making conditions / I want to overcome my inhibitions 1980, Diana Ross, “Tenderness”, in Diana (album):
3. (countable, uncountable) A concern for the feelings or welfare of others.
   • Quiet people too, for I think that about this time a sort of remorseful tenderness comes over the bullies and the nagsters, so that they go about gently and deprecatingly, hoping by one day's record sweetness to outface the year's blusterings. 1906, Violet Hunt, The Workaday Woman, page 1:
   • When they saw the poor orphans, they were overwhelmed with tenderness for them.
   • Everybody needs a little tenderness sometimes.
4. (countable, uncountable) A pain or discomfort when an affected area is touched.
   • He noted her extreme tenderness when he touched the bruise on her thigh.
   • Amies Oelschlager said in a statement that oral contraceptives that contain estrogen may cause side effects such as headaches, nausea, and breast tenderness. 2023 July 21, Amanda Musa, “The FDA approved the US’ first over-the-counter birth control pill. What happens next?”, in CNN, archived from the original on 19 Aug 2023:

Forms

Deriveds

rebound tenderness

Translations (51)

es ternura (a tendency to express warm, compassionate feelings) · sv ömhet (concern for the feelings or welfare of others) · ro prudență (concern for the feelings or welfare of others) · ga armacas (a tendency to express warm, compassionate feelings) · ja 優しさ (a tendency to express warm, compassionate feelings) · ru чувстви́тельность (pain or discomfort when an affected area is touched) · ja 優しみ (a tendency to express warm, compassionate feelings) · es terneza (a tendency to express warm, compassionate feelings) · mi ngaoretanga (softness of food when chewing) · bg мекота (softness of food when chewing) · hi सौम्यता (a tendency to express warm, compassionate feelings) · uk деліка́тність (concern for the feelings or welfare of others) · ru чу́ткость (concern for the feelings or welfare of others) · bg нежност (a tendency to express warm, compassionate feelings) · eo tenero (a tendency to express warm, compassionate feelings) · nl gevoeligheid (pain or discomfort when an affected area is touched) · eo tenerecoj (concern for the feelings or welfare of others) · ru забо́тливость (concern for the feelings or welfare of others) · bg чувстви́телност (pain or discomfort when an affected area is touched) · sv ömhet (pain or discomfort when an affected area is touched) · lb Zäertlechkeet (a tendency to express warm, compassionate feelings) · de Zärtlichkeit (a tendency to express warm, compassionate feelings) · sk nežnosť (a tendency to express warm, compassionate feelings) · uk чутли́вість (pain or discomfort when an affected area is touched) · hi कोमलता (a tendency to express warm, compassionate feelings) · fr tendreté (softness of food when chewing) · fi lempeys (a tendency to express warm, compassionate feelings) · hi मृदुलता (a tendency to express warm, compassionate feelings) · gl tenrura (a tendency to express warm, compassionate feelings) · fi arkuus (pain or discomfort when an affected area is touched) · hi चिंता (concern for the feelings or welfare of others) · pt ternura (a tendency to express warm, compassionate feelings) · fr tendresse (a tendency to express warm, compassionate feelings) · fi lempeys (concern for the feelings or welfare of others) · sv ömhet (a tendency to express warm, compassionate feelings) · it tenerezza (a tendency to express warm, compassionate feelings) · uk ні́жність (a tendency to express warm, compassionate feelings) · ca tendresa (a tendency to express warm, compassionate feelings) · arz حنية (a tendency to express warm, compassionate feelings) · ro tandrețe (a tendency to express warm, compassionate feelings) · pl czułość (a tendency to express warm, compassionate feelings) · uk турбо́тливість (concern for the feelings or welfare of others) · sk neha (a tendency to express warm, compassionate feelings) · bg състрадание (concern for the feelings or welfare of others) · bg грижовност (a tendency to express warm, compassionate feelings) · ru не́жность (a tendency to express warm, compassionate feelings) · ota محبت (a tendency to express warm, compassionate feelings) · ro grijă (concern for the feelings or welfare of others) · ar حنان (a tendency to express warm, compassionate feelings) · ro sensibilitate (pain or discomfort when an affected area is touched) · et õrnus (a tendency to express warm, compassionate feelings)