as in fragile
lacking strength, permanence, or resilience
The countries formed a tenuous political alliance. The moon has a tenuous atmosphere that frequently fluctuates in thickness.
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Recent Examples of tenuous
The situation is even more tenuous on the Atlantic coast, which lacks a comparable fisheries management framework.
—
Micah McCartney, MSNBC Newsweek, 3 June 2025
The researchers found that this could provide a tenuous atmosphere of water vapor that could persist for up to 200 million years.
—Paul Sutter, Space.com, 3 June 2025
And the causal link between those rosy developments and Musk’s departure from DOGE is tenuous.
—Yeo Boon Ping, CNBC, 3 June 2025
But an aunt and a nephew [relationship] is a lot more tenuous.
—Bill Desowitz, IndieWire, 27 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for tenuous
Micah McCartney, MSNBC Newsweek, 3 June 2025
The researchers found that this could provide a tenuous atmosphere of water vapor that could persist for up to 200 million years.
—Paul Sutter, Space.com, 3 June 2025
And the causal link between those rosy developments and Musk’s departure from DOGE is tenuous.
—Yeo Boon Ping, CNBC, 3 June 2025
But an aunt and a nephew [relationship] is a lot more tenuous.
—Bill Desowitz, IndieWire, 27 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for tenuous
Recent Examples of Synonyms for tenuous
Adjective
-
Their batting line-up appeared particularly fragile.—
Tristan Lavalette,
Forbes.com,
14 June 2025
-
When Klarna struck a partnership deal with food delivery group DoorDash in March, journalists seized on the notion of consumers paying for pizzas in installments as evidence of BNPL lenders tempting customers to overextend in a fragile economy.—
Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson,
semafor.com,
13 June 2025
Adjective
-
Bure may not have meant it as a slight, but one of the more notable offenders was Growing Pains, which costarred her brother, Kirk Cameron.—
Jordan Hoffman,
EW.com,
13 June 2025
-
In a slight twist on the usual, the chefs not only get to choose their own sous-chefs, but only those sous-chefs have been flown to Italy for the occasion.—
Caroline Framke,
Vulture,
13 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Tenuous.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/tenuous. Accessed 19 Jun. 2025.
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