tenuous
Americanadjective
-
lacking a sound basis, as reasoning; unsubstantiated; weak.
a tenuous argument.
-
of slight importance or significance.
He holds a rather tenuous position in history.
- Synonyms:
- trifling, trivial, insignificant
- Antonyms:
- substantial, important
-
lacking in clarity; vague.
He gave a rather tenuous account of his past life.
-
thin or slender in form, as a thread.
- Synonyms:
- attenuated
- Antonyms:
- thick
-
thin in consistency; rare or rarefied.
adjective
-
insignificant or flimsy
a tenuous argument
-
slim, fine, or delicate
a tenuous thread
-
diluted or rarefied in consistency or density
a tenuous fluid
Other Word Forms
- tenuity noun
- tenuously adverb
- tenuousness noun
- untenuous adjective
- untenuously adverb
- untenuousness noun
Etymology
Origin of tenuous
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.
Online sleuths poring over government files have drawn a tenuous connection between the 90-year-old company and Leon Black, the former CEO of its private-equity owner, Apollo Global Management.
It only got uglier from there, leaving the Trojans’ tournament hopes in a tenuous place and their frustrated head coach with his own head in his hands.
From Los Angeles Times
“It doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t have it. It just means that’s more tenuous … but I do think that we should say it’s wrong and that it’s damaging.”
From Salon
In a market where sometimes tenuous links spell big moves for stocks, the Super Bowl halftime performance from Bad Bunny failed to produce coattails.
From MarketWatch
Iron doesn’t easily bend, and this curve is tenuous.
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.
