What is the Definition of tenuous?
Something tenuous has been stretched thin and might break at any time. A person with a tenuous hold on his sanity should be watched carefully. If a business is only tenuously surviving, it will probably go bankrupt in the next recession. If there seems to be only a tenuous connection between two crimes, it means the investigators have more work to do.
Choose the Right Synonym for tenuous
thin, slender, slim, slight, tenuous mean not thick, broad, abundant, or dense.
thin implies comparatively little extension between surfaces or in diameter, or it may imply lack of substance, richness, or abundance.
slender implies leanness or spareness often with grace and good proportion.
the slender legs of a Sheraton chair
slim applies to slenderness that suggests fragility or scantiness.
slight implies smallness as well as thinness.
tenuous implies extreme thinness, sheerness, or lack of substance and firmness.
Examples of tenuous in a Sentence What is also true is that they, and I, were lucky, through genes or fate, to surge through the maelstrom of dashed hope and denied opportunity to grasp a tenuous piece of the American Dream. —Anthony Walton, Lure and Loathing, 1993 After the end of the crusading period, however relations between East and West had grown tenuous … —Albert Hourani, Islam in European Thought, 1991 The authors follow researchers as they use the slimmest leads and the most tenuous connections to track the genes for Huntington's disease, muscular dystrophy, schizophrenia and a host of other physical and mental miseries. —Natalie Angier, New York Times Book Review, 12 Aug. 1990 He has a tenuous grasp on reality. The local theater has had a tenuous existence in recent years. He could demonstrate only a tenuous claim to ownership. Recent Examples on the Web Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback. The logic behind the Bieber comparison was tenuous at best. —Larisha Paul, Rolling Stone, 28 Apr. 2025 The situation nonetheless is very tenuous and could take a turn for the worse. —Thomas G. Moukawsher, MSNBC Newsweek, 25 Apr. 2025 Since touching down in Madrid, links to other teams have been tenuous. —Henry Flynn, Forbes.com, 21 Apr. 2025 That makes Netanyahu’s future political security more tenuous than Putin’s, and more comparable to the Duterte situation, where a shift in government once the Philippine leader was out of office ultimately led to his downfall. —Jessie Yeung, CNN Money, 5 Apr. 2025 See All Example Sentences for tenuous Word HistoryEtymology
Latin tenuis "fine-drawn, thin, narrow, slight" + -ous — more at thin entry 1
First Known Use
1597, in the meaning defined at sense 3
Time Traveler
The first known use of tenuous was in 1597 Cite this Entry“Tenuous.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tenuous. Accessed 10 May. 2025.
More from Merriam-Webster on tenuous Last Updated: 2 May 2025 - Updated example sentencesLove words? Need even more definitions?
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