Skip to content
HOW TO PRONOUNCE

tenuous

/ˈtɛn.ju.əs/

Press play to hear how to pronounce tenuous.

American Pronunciation Guide · 0:47
Watch on YouTube ↗

What does tenuous mean?

adjective

  1. Thin in substance or consistency.
  2. Insubstantial.
  3. Precarious, dependent upon unreliable things.

Definitions regrouped for readability · CC BY-SA 4.0

IPA pronunciation

/ˈtɛn.ju.əs/

Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0

Pronunciation varies by speaker and region. About these dictionary pronunciations.

In the pages of books

See this word in context.

Despite such positive indicators, the country's economic turnaround remains tenuous.
United States. Central Intelligence AgencyThe 1993 CIA World FactbookProject Gutenberg ebook #87
She seemed suddenly to have dissolved into the tenuous substance of a dream, and as he continued to gaze upon her, she faded slowly from his sight.
Edgar Rice BurroughsThuvia, maid of MarsProject Gutenberg ebook #72
More book examples (3)
The physical basis of all psychic belief is that the soul is a complete duplicate of the body, resembling it in the smallest particular, although constructed in some far more tenuous material.
Arthur Conan DoyleThe Vital MessageProject Gutenberg ebook #439
It is quite possible to conceive a body occupying the position of the earth with reference to the sun which would cast a shadow having such a tenuous form as the Milky Way presents.
Henry Smith Williams; Edward Huntington WilliamsA History of Science — Volume 1Project Gutenberg ebook #1705
This slender, fragile, tenuous thread of brittle carbon, glowing steadily and continuously with a soft light agreeable to the eyes, was the tiny key that opened the door to a world revolutionized in its interior illumination.
Frank Lewis Dyer; Thomas Commerford MartinEdison: His Life and InventionsProject Gutenberg ebook #820