tenuous

tenuous
\ \ [16] Tenuous comes from the same ultimate ancestor as thin. It is an alteration of an earlier and now defunct tenuious, which was adapted from Latin tenuisthin’. And this went back to the Indo-European base *ten- ‘stretch’, a variant of which produced English thin.
\ \ Cf.TEND, THIN

Word origins - 2ed. . 2005.

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  • tenuous — ► ADJECTIVE 1) very slight or insubstantial: a tenuous distinction. 2) very slender or fine. DERIVATIVES tenuously adverb tenuousness noun. ORIGIN Latin tenuis thin …   English terms dictionary

  • tenuous — [ten′yo͞o əs, ten′yə wəs] adj. [< L tenuis,THIN + OUS] 1. slender or fine, as a fiber 2. rare, as air at high altitudes; not dense 3. not substantial; slight; flimsy [tenuous evidence] tenuously adv. tenuousness n …   English World dictionary

  • Tenuous — Ten u*ous, a. [L. tenuis thin. See {Thin}, and cf. {Tenuis}.] 1. Thin; slender; small; minute. [1913 Webster] 2. Rare; subtile; not dense; said of fluids. [1913 Webster] [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • tenuous — I adjective airy, attenuated, delicate, diminutive, fine, flimsy, illusory, inconsequential, infinitesimal, insignificant, little, miniature, minute, narrow, paltry, petty, scant, slender, slight, small, thin, tiny, trifling, trivial, unimportant …   Law dictionary

  • tenuous — 1590s, irregularly formed from L. tenuis thin, from PIE root *ten to stretch (Cf. Skt. tanuh thin, lit. stretched out; see TENET (Cf. tenet)) + ous. The correct form with respect to the Latin is TENUIOUS (Cf. tenuious). The sense of having slight …   Etymology dictionary

  • tenuous — *thin, rare, slender, slim, slight Analogous words: ethereal, aerial, *airy Antonyms: dense …   New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • tenuous — [adj] weak, thin aerial, airy, attenuate, attenuated, delicate, doubtful, dubious, ethereal, fine, flimsy, gossamer, insignificant, insubstantial, light, narrow, nebulous, questionable, rare, rarefied, reedy, shaky, sketchy, slender, slight, slim …   New thesaurus

  • tenuous — adjective Etymology: Latin tenuis thin, slight, tenuous more at thin Date: 1597 1. not dense ; rare < a tenuous fluid > 2. not thick ; slender < a tenuous rope > 3 …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • tenuous — ten|u|ous [ˈtenjuəs] adj [Date: 1500 1600; : Latin; Origin: tenuis thin, tenuous ] 1.) a situation or relationship that is tenuous is uncertain, weak, or likely to change ▪ For now, the band s travel plans are tenuous. tenuous link/connection etc …   Dictionary of contemporary English

  • tenuous — tenuously, adv. tenuousness, n. /ten yooh euhs/, adj. 1. thin or slender in form, as a thread. 2. lacking a sound basis, as reasoning; unsubstantiated; weak: a tenuous argument. 3. thin in consistency; rare or rarefied. 4. of slight importance or …   Universalium

  • tenuous — [[t]te̱njuəs[/t]] ADJ GRADED If you describe something such as a connection, a reason, or someone s position as tenuous, you mean that it is very uncertain or weak. The cultural and historical links between the many provinces were seen to be very …   English dictionary

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