tenderly
Americanadverb
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in a soft and gentle way.
He took time to polish his new leather shoes tenderly with his handkerchief.
The wind we hated so much while climbing is now tenderly drying the sweat from our brows.
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in an affectionate, loving, or kindhearted way.
He looked down tenderly at his baby daughter.
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sensitively or carefully, as to avoid pain.
Moving tenderly, she attempted to raise herself from the floor where she had fallen.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of tenderly
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Despite the romantic sounding title, this 1974 song, external is actually the sound of Parton tenderly asking her musical mentor, Porter Wagoner, to let her go and pursue her solo career.
From BBC ● Aug. 25, 2026
“You know me so well,” Jane 2, replies tenderly.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 14, 2026
A fragment from a much larger painting, it shows a severe Mary with the small hand of the Christ Child tenderly grazing her cheek.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 11, 2026
Those concepts interlace in his ossuary, enlivened when he plays his tenderly kept records, remnants of human joy all but lost to a Rage pestilence.
From Salon ● Jan. 23, 2026
She bent down and tenderly kissed her husband's forehead.
From "Ambushed!" by Gail Jarrow
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
