tenuous
adjective
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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.
Examples of tenuous in a Sentence
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.
Paloma Esquivel, Los Angeles Times, 10 May 2024
Los Altos held a tenuous one-run lead heading to the bottom of the seventh and came within millimeters of pulling off the win.
—Glenn Reeves, The Mercury News, 8 May 2024
See all Example Sentences for tenuous 
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'tenuous.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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Cite this Entry
“Tenuous.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tenuous. Accessed 21 May. 2024.
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tenuous
adjective
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