tenuous

C2+ Topic:Describing Qualities

US /ˈtɛnjuəs/ UK /ˈtɛnjuəs/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

adj
very weak, slight, or insubstantial

The evidence linking them was tenuous at best.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · very weak, slight, or... weak slight flimsy insubstantial fragile thin delicate

Opposites

strong substantial solid robust

Word family

Derived forms tenuouslytenuousness

Related forms tenuityattenuate extenuate

Simplified etymology

Tenuous, recorded from the late 16th century, comes from Latin tenuis, meaning “thin, fine, shallow”; the Latin word shares an ancient root with Old English thin.

Etymology

From Latin tenuis ('thin, slender, fine'), from Proto-Indo-European *tenh₂- ('to stretch'); the English form influenced by tenuity.

tenuis Latin *tenh₂- Proto-Indo-European

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities Word Formation & Derivatives

External links

# tenuous

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** adj
**IPA (US):** /ˈtɛnjuəs/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈtɛnjuəs/

## Meanings
1. very weak, slight, or insubstantial

## Examples
- The evidence linking them was tenuous at best.

## Synonyms
- weak
- slight
- flimsy
- insubstantial
- fragile
- thin
- delicate

## Antonyms
- strong
- substantial
- solid
- robust

## Derived Forms
- tenuously
- tenuousness

## Related Forms
- tenuity
- attenuate
- extenuate

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: tenuis
- Root: *tenh₂-

## Etymology
From Latin tenuis ('thin, slender, fine'), from Proto-Indo-European *tenh₂- ('to stretch'); the English form influenced by tenuity.

## AI Etymology
Tenuous comes from Latin tenuis ('thin, slender, fine'), from Proto-Indo-European *tenh₂- ('to stretch'); the English form influenced by tenuity. The historical chain includes Latin tenuis and Proto-Indo-European *tenh₂-. The quoted older senses, "thin, slender, fine" and "to stretch", supply the semantic anchors for tenuous. The formation is best read as borrowed: the word tenuous carries its older form-history into a compact English lexical shape. In present English it is used as a adj, "very weak, slight, or insubstantial". English derivatives include tenuously and tenuousness; related English forms include tenuity, attenuate, and extenuate. The result is a adj whose etymology preserves both the older form and the later English specialization.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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