Need another word that means the same as “tenuous”? Find 18 synonyms and 30 related words for “tenuous” in this overview.
The synonyms of “Tenuous” are: flimsy, fragile, slight, thin, insubstantial, negligible, weak, shaky, sketchy, doubtful, dubious, questionable, suspect, fine, slender, attenuated, delicate, gossamer
According to the Oxford Dictionary of English, “tenuous” as an adjective can have the following definitions:
| attenuated | Reduced in strength. It appears likely that the courts will be given an attenuated role in the enforcement of these decisions. |
| delicate | Requiring sensitive or careful handling. His delicate health. |
| doubtful | Improbable. They were doubtful that the cord would hold. |
| dubious | Not convinced. What one found uncertain the other found dubious or downright false. |
| fine | Characterized by elegance or refinement or accomplishment. What a fine human being he is. |
| flimsy | Lacking substance or significance. A pretty flimsy excuse. |
| fragile | Lacking substance or significance. You have a fragile grip on reality. |
| gossamer | So thin as to transmit light. Gossamer shading through his playing. |
| insubstantial | Lacking in nutritive value. As insubstantial as a dream. |
| negligible | So small or unimportant as to be not worth considering; insignificant. The effect was negligible. |
| questionable | Able to be refuted. A questionable reputation. |
| shaky | Not secure; beset with difficulties. Thoroughly shaky evidence. |
| sketchy | Dishonest or disreputable. A sketchy pencil drawing by Toulouse Lautrec. |
| slender | Being of delicate or slender build. Her slender neck. |
| slight | (especially of a creative work) not profound or substantial; rather trivial or superficial. A slight increase. |
| suspect | Not as expected. Her motives were suspect. |
| thin | Relatively thin in consistency or low in density not viscous. A thin chiffon blouse. |
| weak | Relating to or denoting the weakest of the known kinds of force between particles which acts only at distances less than about 10 cm is very much weaker than the electromagnetic and the strong interactions and conserves neither strangeness parity nor isospin. Their commitment to the project is weak. |
| bauble | Cheap showy jewelry or ornament on clothing. Once stripped of their tinsel and baubles most Christmas trees end up in landfill. |
| drizzle | (in cooking) trickle a thin stream of (a liquid ingredient) over food. When it drizzles in summer hiking can be pleasant. |
| flimsy | (of clothing) very light and thin. A flimsy argument. |
| frivolous | (of a person) carefree and superficial. The frivolous fun loving flappers of the twenties. |
| inconsequential | Not important or significant. They talked about inconsequential things. |
| inconsiderable | Of small size, amount, or extent. A not inconsiderable amount of money. |
| insignificant | Signifying nothing. A minor insignificant bureaucrat. |
| insubstantial | Lacking strength and solidity. An insubstantial mirage on the horizon. |
| less | Fewer. Less than three years old. |
| meanness | Lack of quality or attractiveness; shabbiness. He is also callous with a streak of meanness. |
| mini | Denoting a miniature version of something. A mini dress. |
| minimal | Characterized by simplicity and lack of adornment or decoration. P and b are a minimal pair distinguished by the feature of voicing. |
| minor | The minor leagues in baseball or American football. A minor official. |
| negligible | So small or unimportant as to be not worth considering; insignificant. The effect was negligible. |
| nominal | Relating to or constituting or bearing or giving a name. They charge a nominal fee for the service. |
| paltry | Contemptibly small in amount. She would earn a paltry 33 more a month. |
| peccadillo | A petty misdeed. The sexual peccadilloes of celebrities aren t necessarily news. |
| pettiness | Lack of generosity in trifling matters. Try to overlook insults and pettinesses. |
| petty | Inferior in rank or status. The petty divisions of party politics. |
| picayune | An insignificant person or thing. Giving a police officer a free meal may be against the law but it seems to be a picayune infraction. |
| piddling | Pathetically trivial; trifling. Piddling little questions. |
| quaver | A note having the time value of an eighth of a semibreve or half a crotchet, represented by a large dot with a hooked stem. It was impossible to hide the slight quaver in her voice. |
| slight | (quantifier used with mass nouns) small in quantity or degree; not much or almost none or (with `a’) at least some. There s slight chance that it will work. |
| stickle | Especially of a hill or path: steep, sloping; set at a sharp angle; high. |
| stickler | A person who insists on a certain quality or type of behaviour. I m a stickler when it comes to timekeeping. |
| trifling | The deliberate act of delaying and playing instead of working. A trifling sum. |
| trivial | Concerned with trivialities. Trivial details. |
| undersized | Smaller than normal for its kind. The undersized cubs may not survive the winter. |
| unimportant | Lacking in importance or significance. A relatively unimportant feature of the system. |
| vain | Characteristic of false pride; having an exaggerated sense of self-importance. A vain attempt to tidy up the room. |
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