Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- adjective Weak or insubstantial; flimsy.
- adjective Precarious or insecure.
- adjective Long and thin; slender.
- adjective Having a thin consistency.
from The Century Dictionary.
- Thin; small; minute.
- Rare; rarefied; fine; subtile.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- adjective Thin; slender; small; minute.
- adjective Rare; subtile; not dense; -- said of fluids.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- adjective Thin in
substance orconsistency . - adjective
insubstantial
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- adjective very thin in gauge or diameter
- adjective having thin consistency
- adjective lacking substance or significance
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
Support
Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word tenuous.
Examples
-
Only the ceaseless exercise of power, especially by the weighty “great powers,” might hold contentious states in tenuous equilibrium.
-
Only the ceaseless exercise of power, especially by the weighty “great powers,” might hold contentious states in tenuous equilibrium.
-
Leftwich's prospects for a long-term grasp on the job seemed tenuous from the start, with the Bucs drafting Josh Freeman in the first round.
NFL Replay: Declining skills at the root of T.O.'s slow start 2009
-
How will you live your life in tenuous circumstances?
Istanbul v2.0 2008
-
So, while Obama's relationship with Bill Ayers remains tenuous, what isn't tenuous is Obama's relationship with the corrupt city, county, and state governments he calls home.
-
With pedominantly Arab Muslim populations, the govts of the Mahgreb are in tenuous control.
-
Not only does it fall far short of the definition of the word tenuous, but it is kind of ironic to see the McCain campaign keep soiling their own in their desperation.
-
Do these people understand just how tenuous is the existance of the average small business?
-
It was a pragmatic alliance, but tenuous from the start.
-
It was a pragmatic alliance, but tenuous from the start.
100000232338334 commented on the word tenuous
"In the complex relationship between vampire, Were, and human, there was a lot of leeway for something to go wrong somewhere. After all, my plan was thin, and the vampires' hold over Alcide was tenuous." -Club Dead, by Charlaine Harris
February 5, 2011
bashaba@mail.com commented on the word tenuous
asvab - ethereal- unusual lightness
March 7, 2011
guitar commented on the word tenuous
Flimsy or weak
July 8, 2014