Definitions
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun Tender feeling; tenderness.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun Obs., except as a French word Tender feeling; fondness.
Etymologies
Sorry, no etymologies found.
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Examples
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'Hale! did it ever strike you that Thornton and your daughter have what the French call a tendresse for each other?'
North and South Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell 1837
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He pretended to love her while seeking nothing other than the restoration of his traitorous family, whereas I … I confess, I was developing a tendresse for Elizabeth.
Secret History of Elizabeth Tudor, Vampire Slayer Lucy Weston 2011
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The tendresse and the fragility of the two is so palpable it hurts.
French Word-A-Day: 2009
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He pretended to love her while seeking nothing other than the restoration of his traitorous family, whereas I … I confess, I was developing a tendresse for Elizabeth.
Secret History of Elizabeth Tudor, Vampire Slayer Lucy Weston 2011
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The tendresse and the fragility of the two is so palpable it hurts.
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The tendresse and the fragility of the two is so palpable it hurts.
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The tendresse and the fragility of the two is so palpable it hurts.
French Word-A-Day: 2009
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How little these true barbarians know of the solicitous tendresse to which they are subject, or the colonial telegrams that have passed to and from the Gibraltar cable station, attesting to their contentment, or their decline.
The ends of the earth Tripp 2009
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Galloway, who has a tendresse for any 'antiZionist' leader – how could we forget his face-to-face eulogising of the late Saddam Hussein?
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With Maureen and Jane it seemed improbable, but every now and then I caught myself wondering if the tempestuous Alessandra felt even a slight tendresse.
Why Women Still Don't Get It Hitchens, Christopher 2008
taciturnyetprolix commented on the word tendresse
Tenderness
June 2, 2008
chained_bear commented on the word tendresse
"'Did you have a crush on her when you were little, Da?' Brianna asked, laughing.
'A what?'
'A tendresse,' I said, batting my eyelashes delicately at him over my fan."
—Diana Gabaldon, A Breath of Snow and Ashes (New York: Bantam Dell, 2005), 462
February 1, 2010