tenuous

CEFRC1

/ˈtɛn.ju.əs/

adjective

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    adjective

    Weak, slight, or not certain.

  2. 02

    adjective

    Extra detail

    Precarious, dependent upon unreliable things.

Examples

  • Relations are tenuous as peace talks resume between warring factions.

  • Netanyahu's grip on power is tenuous.

At a glance

Sits at C1 on the CEFR scale

Senses
3
Parts of speech
1
Citations
2
Synonyms
5

Deep Dive

adjective

Extra meaning

  1. Thin in substance or consistency.

More examples

In context

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

  • 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.

Synonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

The connection between the two events was blank and based on weak evidence.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

adjective

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