tenuous

adjective

ten·​u·​ous ˈten-yə-wəs 

-yü-əs

1

a

: having little substance or strength : flimsy, weak

tenuous influences

b

: shaky sense 2a

tenuous reasons

2

: not thick : slender

a tenuous rope

3

: not dense : rare

a tenuous fluid

tenuously adverb

tenuousness noun

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What is the Definition of tenuous?

Something tenuous has been stretched thin and might break at any time. A person with a tenuous hold on his sanity should be watched carefully. If a business is only tenuously surviving, it will probably go bankrupt in the next recession. If there seems to be only a tenuous connection between two crimes, it means the investigators have more work to do.

Choose the Right Synonym for tenuous

thin, slender, slim, slight, tenuous mean not thick, broad, abundant, or dense.

thin implies comparatively little extension between surfaces or in diameter, or it may imply lack of substance, richness, or abundance.

thin wire

a thin soup

slender implies leanness or spareness often with grace and good proportion.

the slender legs of a Sheraton chair

slim applies to slenderness that suggests fragility or scantiness.

a slim volume of poetry

a slim chance

slight implies smallness as well as thinness.

a slight build

tenuous implies extreme thinness, sheerness, or lack of substance and firmness.

a tenuous thread

Examples of tenuous in a Sentence

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

After the end of the crusading period, however relations between East and West had grown tenuous … —Albert Hourani, Islam in European Thought, 1991

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

He has a tenuous grasp on reality.

The local theater has had a tenuous existence in recent years.

He could demonstrate only a tenuous claim to ownership.

Recent Examples on the Web

For farmers themselves, a short crop due to lack of fertilizer will magnify already tenuous profitability given high land costs, rising fuel prices and sharp competition from Brazil, where rapid expansion of corn production is doubling down on its world-leading soybean output. —Edward Lotterman, Twin Cities, 15 Mar. 2026

There was an idea that descendants had tenuous links to Italy over time. —Julia Buckley, CNN Money, 14 Mar. 2026

Diaz-Canel did not acknowledge the country’s historically tenuous relationship with Cubans abroad, many who fled to Miami starting in the 1960s because of political persecution, property expropriation and economic instability after the Cuban revolution. —Syra Ortiz Blanes, Miami Herald, 13 Mar. 2026

The discovery team came up with several interpretations for the structure, including debris from a galaxy collision, gas stripped from a high-velocity galaxy moving through the tenuous intergalactic medium, and more. —Phil Plait, Scientific American, 13 Mar. 2026

Word History

Etymology

Latin tenuis "fine-drawn, thin, narrow, slight" + -ous — more at thin entry 1

First Known Use

1597, in the meaning defined at sense 3

Kids Definition

tenuous

adjective

ten·​u·​ous ˈten-yə-wəs 

: having little substance or strength : flimsy, weak

a tenuous hold on reality

tenuously adverb