tentative
Americanadjective
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of the nature of or made or done as a trial, experiment, or attempt; experimental.
a tentative report on her findings.
-
unsure; uncertain; not definite or positive; hesitant.
a tentative smile on his face.
adjective
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provisional or experimental; conjectural
-
hesitant, uncertain, or cautious
Other Word Forms
- nontentative adjective
- nontentativeness noun
- pretentative adjective
- tentatively adverb
- tentativeness noun
Etymology
Origin of tentative
First recorded in 1580–90; from Medieval Latin tentātīvus, equivalent to Latin tentāt(us) (past participle of tentāre, variant of temptāre “to test”; tempt ) + -īvus adjective suffix ( -ive )
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Not long after that, the Trojans were leaving the court in familiar disappointment, their tournament hopes as tentative as ever.
From Los Angeles Times
The stock market this year has taken a tentative step in becoming less concentrated.
From MarketWatch
Thailand’s central bank surprised markets by cutting its policy rate at its first meeting of the year, delivering a second consecutive round of easing to bolster tentative signs of recovery.
A teachers’ strike that began Monday, closing schools for some 50,000 students, ended Friday as the union and school district reached a tentative deal.
From Los Angeles Times
Those clashes ended with a tentative ceasefire that same month after the worst fighting since the Taliban returned to power in 2021.
From BBC
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
