tenuous

ten·u·ous

adjective \ˈten-yə-wəs, -yü-əs\

Definition of TENUOUS

1

: not dense : rare <a tenuous fluid>

2

: not thick : slender <a tenuous rope>

3

a : having little substance or strength : flimsy, weak <tenuous influences>

b : shaky 2a <tenuous reasons>

— ten·u·ous·ly adverb

— ten·u·ous·ness noun

Examples of TENUOUS

1. He has a tenuous grasp on reality.
2. The local theater has had a tenuous existence in recent years.
3. He could demonstrate only a tenuous claim to ownership.
4. What is also true is that they, and I, were lucky, through genes or fate, to surge through the maelstrom of dashed hope and denied opportunity to grasp a tenuous piece of the American Dream. —Anthony Walton, Lure and Loathing, 1993
5. After the end of the crusading period, however relations between East and West had grown tenuous … —Albert Hourani, Islam in European Thought, 1991
6. The authors follow researchers as they use the slimmest leads and the most tenuous connections to track the genes for Huntington's disease, muscular dystrophy, schizophrenia and a host of other physical and mental miseries. —Natalie Angier, New York Times Book Review, 12 Aug. 1990

Origin of TENUOUS

Latin tenuis thin, slight, tenuous — more at thin

First Known Use: 1597

Rhymes with TENUOUS

strenuous, tenuis