Link Centre Dictionary

tenuous

te·nuous

UK/ˈtɛn.ju.əs/ US/ˈtɛnjʌwʌs/ uncommon

adjective

1.

having little substance or significance

  • “a flimsy excuse”
  • “slight evidence”
  • “a tenuous argument”
  • “a thin plot”
Synonyms
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2.

having thin consistency

  • “a tenuous fluid”
Similar
3.

very thin in gauge or diameter

  • “a tenuous thread”
Similar

Origin

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

Related words

Word family

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.