tenuous

Synonym Chooser

How does the adjective tenuous contrast with its synonyms?

Some common synonyms of tenuous are slender, slight, slim, and thin. While all these words mean "not thick, broad, abundant, or dense," tenuous implies extreme thinness, sheerness, or lack of substance and firmness.

a tenuous thread

Where would slender be a reasonable alternative to tenuous?

The meanings of slender and tenuous largely overlap; however, slender implies leanness or spareness often with grace and good proportion.

the slender legs of a Sheraton chair

When could slight be used to replace tenuous?

While in some cases nearly identical to tenuous, slight implies smallness as well as thinness.

a slight build

When is slim a more appropriate choice than tenuous?

The synonyms slim and tenuous are sometimes interchangeable, but slim applies to slenderness that suggests fragility or scantiness.

a slim volume of poetry
a slim chance

In what contexts can thin take the place of tenuous?

The words thin and tenuous are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, 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

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of tenuous Kelsey Mitchell tied a career-high with 38 points as the Fever erased a 21-point deficit against Connecticut to keep their tenuous hold on a playoff spot. Sabreena Merchant, New York Times, 18 Aug. 2025 But as the summit draws closer, the data is only shifting further away from a rate-cut scenario, and the likelihood of a lower cut is more tenuous. Eleanor Pringle, Fortune, 18 Aug. 2025 Trump’s show of force is an imposition on a citizenry already aware that its democratic self-governance is tenuous. Margaret Talbot, New Yorker, 17 Aug. 2025 An 8-inch telescope will grant a magnificent view of the cluster's white-blue stellar population shining through tenuous clouds of interstellar dust, while also making Uranus detectable as a tiny aqua dot less than 5 degrees to the lower right of the Pleiades on Aug 16. Anthony Wood, Space.com, 14 Aug. 2025 See All Example Sentences for tenuous
Recent Examples of Synonyms for tenuous
Adjective
  • The giant ginkgo doesn’t change much, but everything around it does, and Enyedi seems determined to show us how fragile, and culturally contingent our idea of reality, really is.
    Leila Latif, IndieWire, 5 Sep. 2025
  • Underwater drones could one day use similar appendages to squeeze into tight spaces, explore fragile ecosystems without damage, or carry out repairs in difficult-to-reach areas.
    Atharva Gosavi, Interesting Engineering, 5 Sep. 2025
Adjective
  • Barefoot driving is legal in all 50 states, with the one slight exception being Alabama where footwear is required on motorcycles.
    Georgea Kovanis, The Courier-Journal, 3 Sep. 2025
  • Mail-in voting is now more popular among Democrats In the 2008 presidential election, there was only a slight difference in the popularity of mail-in voting by political party, according to a data analysis by Charles Stewart, director of the MIT Election Data and Science Lab.
    Carlie Procell, USA Today, 2 Sep. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Tenuous.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/tenuous. Accessed 10 Sep. 2025.

More from Merriam-Webster on tenuous

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