Dictionary

tenuous en · ADJ

Pronunciation

• /ˈtɛn.ju.əs/ (General-American)
• (Southern-England) audio
• /ˈtɛ.njʊ.əs/ (Received-Pronunciation)

Etymology

Irregularly formed from Latin tenuis (“thin, slight”) + -ous. Compare tenuious.

Meanings

1. Thin in substance or consistency.
   • Far from being amicable, the numbers seemed to turn their backs on each other, and I couldn't find a pair with even the most tenuous connection.
   • The aether was thought to be of tenuous strands.
2. Insubstantial.
   • His argument was not convincing in the debate, considering how tenuous it was.
   • July 18 2012, Scott Tobias, AV Club The Dark Knight Riseshttp://www.avclub.com/articles/the-dark-knight-rises-review-batman,82624/ Picking up eight years after The Dark Knight left off, the film finds Gotham enjoying a tenuous peace based on Harvey Dent’s moral ideals rather than the ugly truth of his demise.
3. Precarious, dependent upon unreliable things.
   • Is this connected to "pro-gay" Governor Weld's contract with some in the community—gay rights in exchange for keeping sex out of the picture? Those willing to make this 'bargain with the devil' depend for their tenuous status on keeping the rest of us in line, moralizing about the need to behave "beyond reproach," clarifying to the straight public that there are good gays and bad ones. 1996 September, “Moral Clashes”, in Gay Community News, page 4:
   • Paulina's repeated, almost anxious iteration of the lawfulness of her actions serves as a reminder of women's tenuous stance before the law in early modern English society. 1994, M. Lindsey Kaplan, Katherine Eggert, ““Good queen, my lord, good queen” - Sexual Slander and the Trials of Female Authority in “The Winter's Tale””, in Renaissance Drama, volume 25, →DOI, page 110 of 89–118:

Forms

Deriveds

tenuosity · tenuously · tenuousness

Relateds

tendrilous · attenuate · tenuity · tenuities · wispy · extenuate

Synonyms

frailsome · unreal · gossamer · airy · tender · frail · immaterial · ethereal · delicate · ethereal · breakable · frangible · unsubstantial · fragile · aery · tenuous · diaphanous · tenuous · slim · delicate · insubstantial · flimsy

Translations (46)

fi hatara (thin in substance or consistency) · de prekär (thin in substance or consistency) · de dürftig (thin in substance or consistency) · cs jemný (thin in substance or consistency) · de schlank (thin in substance or consistency) · ca tènue (thin in substance or consistency) · fr ténu (thin in substance or consistency) · cs ošidný (precarious) · de dünn (thin in substance or consistency) · de klein (thin in substance or consistency) · nl dunnetjes (thin in substance or consistency) · de verdünnt (thin in substance or consistency) · ru жи́дкий (thin in substance or consistency) · cs tenoučký (thin in substance or consistency) · wa tene (thin in substance or consistency) · ru несуще́ственная (insubstantial) · de nicht stichhaltig (insubstantial) · nl onbelangrijk (thin in substance or consistency) · bg несъществен (insubstantial) · de schwach (insubstantial) · cmn 弱勢 /弱势 (thin in substance or consistency) · pt tênue (thin in substance or consistency) · pt ténue (thin in substance or consistency) · cs chabý (insubstantial) · ru несуще́ственный (insubstantial) · de fein (thin in substance or consistency) · fi puutteellinen (thin in substance or consistency) · de angreifbar (insubstantial) · de zart (thin in substance or consistency) · de dürftig (insubstantial) · cs řídký (thin in substance or consistency) · cs slabý (insubstantial) · cs tenký (thin in substance or consistency) · cs chatrný (insubstantial) · bg слаб (thin in substance or consistency) · cs nejistý (precarious) · de unsicher (thin in substance or consistency) · de unbedeutend (insubstantial) · de heikel (thin in substance or consistency) · es tenue (insubstantial) · de spärlich (thin in substance or consistency) · de unwesentlich (insubstantial) · es tenue (thin in substance or consistency) · ru несуще́ственное (insubstantial) · ru то́нкий (thin in substance or consistency) · bg тънък (thin in substance or consistency)