Definition of "tenuous" in English

adjective

1. Thin in substance or consistency.

   • The aether was thought to be of tenuous strands.
   • Far from being amicable, the numbers seemed to turn their backs on each other, and I couldn't find a pair with even the most tenuous connection.

2. Insubstantial.

   • His argument was not convincing in the debate, considering how tenuous it was.
   • July 18 2012, Scott Tobias, AV Club The Dark Knight Riseshttp://www.avclub.com/articles/the-dark-knight-rises-review-batman,82624/ Picking up eight years after The Dark Knight left off, the film finds Gotham enjoying a tenuous peace based on Harvey Dent’s moral ideals rather than the ugly truth of his demise.

3. Precarious, dependent upon unreliable things.