tenuous

English

Etymology

Irregularly formed from Latin tenuis (“thin, slight”) +‎ -ous. Compare tenuious.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈtɛn.ju.əs/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛnjuəs

Adjective

tenuous (comparative more tenuous, superlative most tenuous)

1. Thin in substance or consistency.

   Synonyms: delicate, gossamer; see also Thesaurus:fragile

   The aether was thought to be of tenuous strands.

   Far from being amicable, the numbers seemed to turn their backs on each other, and I couldn't find a pair with even the most tenuous connection.

2. Insubstantial.

   Synonyms: ethereal; see also Thesaurus:insubstantial

   His argument was not convincing in the debate, considering how tenuous it was.

   • July 18 2012, Scott Tobias, AV Club The Dark Knight Rises[1]

     Picking up eight years after The Dark Knight left off, the film finds Gotham enjoying a tenuous peace based on Harvey Dent’s moral ideals rather than the ugly truth of his demise.

Derived terms

• tenuously
• tenuousness

 

Related terms

• attenuate
• extenuate
• tenuities
• tenuity

 

Translations

thin in substance or consistency

• Bulgarian: тънък (bg) (tǎnǎk), слаб (bg) (slab)
• Catalan: tènue (ca) m or f
• Dutch: onbelangrijk (nl), dunnetjes (nl)
• Finnish: hatara (fi), puutteellinen (fi)
• French: ténu (fr)
• German: ^{(please verify)} nicht stichhaltig , dünn (de), prekär (de), heikel (de), dürftig (de), fein (de), zart (de), schlank (de), klein (de), spärlich (de), unsicher (de), verdünnt (de)
• Portuguese: ténue (pt) (Portugal), tênue (pt) (Brazil)
• Russian: то́нкий (ru) (tónkij), жи́дкий (ru) (žídkij)
• Spanish: tenue (es)
• Walloon: tene (wa) m or f

insubstantial

• Bulgarian: несъществен (bg) (nesǎštestven)
• German: schwach (de), dürftig (de), nicht stichhaltig, unwesentlich (de), unbedeutend (de), angreifbar (de)
• Russian: несуще́ственный (ru) m (nesuščéstvennyj), несуще́ственная (ru) f (nesuščéstvennaja), несуще́ственное (ru) n (nesuščéstvennoje)