tenuous
Americanadjective
-
lacking a sound basis, as reasoning; unsubstantiated; weak.
a tenuous argument.
-
of slight importance or significance.
He holds a rather tenuous position in history.
- Synonyms:
- trifling, trivial, insignificant
- Antonyms:
- substantial, important
-
lacking in clarity; vague.
He gave a rather tenuous account of his past life.
-
thin or slender in form, as a thread.
- Synonyms:
- attenuated
- Antonyms:
- thick
-
thin in consistency; rare or rarefied.
adjective
-
insignificant or flimsy
a tenuous argument
-
slim, fine, or delicate
a tenuous thread
-
diluted or rarefied in consistency or density
a tenuous fluid
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of tenuous
Explanation
If something is tenuous it's thin, either literally or metaphorically. If you try to learn a complicated mathematical concept by cramming for 45 minutes, you will have a tenuous grasp of that concept, at best. Tenuous comes from the Latin word tenuis, for thin, and is related to our word tender. Something can be physically tenuous, like a spiderweb or ice on a pond. We more often use it in a metaphorical sense, to talk about weak ideas. Tenuous arguments won't win any debate tournaments. Synonyms for tenuous, also used physically or metaphorically, are flimsy and shaky.
Vocabulary lists containing tenuous
Essential Academic Vocabulary for High School Students, List 2
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Grade 12, List 1
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100 SAT Words Beginning with "T"
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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.
Tenuous as they may seem, Mr. Cahn saw the links as compelling.
From New York Times • Mar. 15, 2019
Tenuous golf connection: "50 Shades Of Grey" co-star Dakota Johnson is the daughter of Don Johnson, aka David Simms from "Tin Cup."
From Golf Digest • Oct. 16, 2013
Tenuous and temporary as their grip may be, the Kurds of Iraq have come tantalizingly close to something like their centuries-old dream: a state of their own.
From Time Magazine Archive
Tenuous scientific probes of the happiness phenomenon, as an aspect of mental health, were organized as long ago as the 1960s.
From Time Magazine Archive
Faint on the evening Tenuous and far As the beauty shaken From a vagrant star, Throbbed the ache and passion Of an old guitar.
From Carolina Chansons Legends of the Low Country by Heyward, DuBose
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.
