tenuous

adj
/ˈtɛn.ju.əs/

Etymology

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

Definitions

  1. Thin in substance or consistency.

    • 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.

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

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for tenuous. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA