Tenuous

//ˈtɛn.ju.əs// adj

adj ·Common ·High school level

Definitions

Adjective
  1. 1
    Thin in substance or consistency.

    "The aether was thought to be of tenuous strands."

  2. 2
    Insubstantial.

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

  3. 3
    Precarious, dependent upon unreliable things.

    "Paulina's repeated, almost anxious iteration of the lawfulness of her actions serves as a reminder of women's tenuous stance before the law in early modern English society."

Adjective
  1. 1
    lacking substance or significance wordnet
  2. 2
    very thin in gauge or diameter wordnet
  3. 3
    having thin consistency wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
delicateetherealinsignificantthinadulteratedaerial

Example

More examples

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

Etymology

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

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.