tenderness
Americannoun
Explanation
Tenderness is a feeling of concern, gentle affection, or warmth. It's the quality of a person who cries when they see someone get hurt or who gently picks up a tiny kitten. Writing a heartfelt note to a sad friend is one way to show tenderness, and so is giving your brother a sincere hug on his birthday. Another definition of this adjective is "extreme sensitivity to pain." You might experience tenderness in your muscles the day after going on a long hike. This is actually the original meaning, from tender, "soft or easily injured," and a root meaning "stretched, thin, or weak."
Vocabulary lists containing tenderness
Novel Study: The Crucible, Acts 3–4
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Crenshaw
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The Suffix -ness, Part 1
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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.
As my sentence loomed, the messages between us were often shot through with tenderness: an unprompted “I love you” for no particular reason.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 5, 2026
It is common to get some swelling, redness or tenderness where you have the injection.
From BBC ● Jul. 13, 2026
I don’t think I would be who I was if I didn’t show some tenderness towards those spaces that made me, or at least allowed me to see myself.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 25, 2026
Ms. Arno’s achievement is to return Celan to mortal scale: ardent in friendship, hungry for recognition, capable of wounded tenderness.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 5, 2026
With a renewal of tenderness, however, they repaired to her room on leaving the dining-parlour, and sat with her till summoned to coffee.
From "Pride and Prejudice" by Jane Austen
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.
