tender

1 easily injured without careful handling a tender wound tender plants that cannot take the cold tender pride that got bruised when his girlfriend dumped him Synonyms delicate, fragile, frail, sensitive Related Words breakable, brittle, crushable, eggshell, frangible, friable; feeble, flimsy, puny, slight, soft, tenuous, weak; nonhardy, perishable, resistless, susceptible, unresistant, vulnerable, yielding Near Antonyms durable, firm, flinty, hard, hardy, resistant, robust, rugged, solid, sound, stiff, stout, strong, sturdy, substantial; infrangible, nonbreakable, unbreakable; hardened, inured, strengthened, tempered, toughened Antonyms tough

2 feeling or showing love a tender embrace between father and daughter Synonyms adoring, affectionate, devoted, fond, loving, tenderheartedRelated Words caring, compassionate, considerate, cordial, doting, forgiving, friendly, humane, kind, understanding, warmhearted; ardent, fervent, impassioned, passionate, warm; amatory, amorous, erotic (also erotical); enamored, infatuated, lovesick; lovey-dovey, mushy, romantic, sappy, sentimental; brotherly, fatherly, motherly, sisterlyNear Antonyms aloof, antisocial, cold-eyed, cool, detached, distant, dry, frosty, hard-hearted, indifferent, offish, pitiless, remote, reserved, standoffish, unbending, uncaring, unfeeling; disaffected, unconcerned, uninvolved; cold, frigid, unfriendly; callous, cold-blooded, hard-boiled, heartless, pitiless, ruthless, soulless, unromantic, unsentimentalAntonyms unloving

3 having or marked by sympathy and consideration for others an especially tender teacher who loves having kids with special educational needs in her class Synonyms beneficent, benevolent, benignant, compassionate, good-hearted, kind, kindhearted, kindly, softhearted, sympathetic, humane, tenderhearted, warmheartedRelated Words attentive, considerate, solicitous, thoughtful; affable, amicable, benign, companionable, comradely, cordial, friendly, genial, gentle, good, good-natured, good-tempered, gracious, mild, neighborly, nice, pleasant, sweet, warm; clement, forbearing, forgiving, lenient, merciful, soft; patient, pitying, tolerant, understanding; altruistic, brotherly, charitable, freehanded, generous, greathearted, humanitarian, liberal, magnanimous, munificent, noble, openhearted, philanthropic (also philanthropical), selfless, unselfish, unsparing; anticruelty, cruelty-freeNear Antonyms ironhearted, merciless, pitiless, ruthless, stonyhearted; inconsiderate, insensitive, thoughtless, uncaring, unthinking; grim, hard-boiled, harsh, heavy-handed, severe, stern, tough, unsentimental; hateful, malevolent, malicious, malign, malignant, mean, nasty, spiteful, virulent; antihumanitarian, uncharitableAntonyms atrocious, barbaric, barbarous, bestial, brutal, brute, brutish, callous, cold-blooded, cruel, fiendish, hard-hearted, heartless, inhuman, inhumane, insensate, sadistic, savage, truculent, uncompassionate, unfeeling, unkind, unkindly, unsympathetic, vicious, wanton

4 lacking bodily strength a very tender child who always seems to be sick Synonyms asthenic, debilitated, delicate, down-and-out, effete, enervated, enfeebled, faint, feeble, frail, infirm, languid, low, prostrate, prostrated, sapped, slight, soft, softened, weak, unsubstantial, wasted, weakened, wimpish, wimpyRelated Words challenged, disabled, incapacitated, invalid; paralyzed; broken-down, decrepit; impotent, powerless; breakable, flimsy, fragile; dizzy, groggy, rocky, unsteady, woozy; drained, exhausted, flagging, tired, weary, worn-out; damaged, harmed, hurt, impaired, injured, lame, unsound; resistless, susceptible, unresistant, vulnerable, yieldingNear Antonyms able-bodied, athletic, beefy, brawny, fit, husky, muscular, sinewy, strapping, virile; hard, hardy, lusty, red-blooded, robust, sturdy, tough; fortified, hardened, inured, strengthened, toughened; energetic, energized, invigorated, vigorous, vitalized; hale, healthy, sound; capable, competent; convalescing, recovering, recuperatingAntonyms mighty, powerful, rugged, stalwart, stout, strong

5 not harsh or stern especially in nature or effect his tender comments on how to improve her writing style were gratefully received Synonyms balmy, benign, bland, delicate, light, mellow, mild, nonabrasive, soft, soothing, gentleRelated Words calm, pacific, peaceful, placid, quiet, serene, tranquil; clement, compassionate, easy, lenient, merciful; buffering, cushioning, emollient, softening; sleek, slick, smoothNear Antonyms exquisite, fierce, intense, powerful, severe; forceful, forcible, savage, violent; roughened, rugged, strong; abrading, irritating, roughening; grim, gruff, rude, stiff; heavy-handed, oppressive, pitiless, tyrannical (also tyrannic)Antonyms abrasive, caustic, coarse, hard, harsh, rough, scathing, stern, ungentle

something (as pieces of stamped metal or printed paper) customarily and legally used as a medium of exchange, a measure of value, or a means of payment money from that board game is not legal tender and can't be exchanged for goods or services Synonyms bread [slang], bucks, cabbage [slang], cash, change, chips, coin, currency, dough, gold, green, jack [slang], kale [slang], legal tender, lolly [British], long green [slang], loot, lucre, moola (or moolah) [slang], needful, pelf, scratch [slang], shekels (also sheqels or shekelim or shekalim or sheqalim), money, wampumRelated Words coinage, specie; dead presidents [slang], folding money, paper money, scrip; banknote, cashier's check, check, draft, money order, note, promissory note; bill, dollar, greenback; bankroll, capital, finances, funds, roll [slang], wad, wallet; chump change, dibs [slang], dime, mite, peanuts, pittance, shoestring; big bucks, bomb [British], boodle, bundle, earth, fortune, king's ransom, megabucks, mint, packet [chiefly British], pile, pot; abundance, means, opulence, riches, treasure, wealth; resources, wherewithal; mad money, petty cash, pin money, pocket money, spending money

to put before another for acceptance or consideration the coach tendered his resignation and started a new career as a physical therapist Synonyms extend, give, proffer, offer, trot outRelated Words pose, propose; hold out; give in, submit; volunteerNear Antonyms accept, receive, take; accredit, approbate, approve, authorize, clear, confirm, finalize, formalize, homologate, OK (or okay), ratify, sanction, warrant; decline, deny, disallow, disapprove, negative, reject, turn down, veto; rebuff, rebut, refuse, spurn; retract, withdraw; disregard, ignore, neglect, overlook