How to Use tenuous in a Sentence

tenuous

adjective

• The local theater has had a tenuous existence in recent years.
• He could demonstrate only a tenuous claim to ownership.
• He has a tenuous grasp on reality.
• This gives him a claim (how tenuous is yet to be seen) to the throne.
  — Kayleigh Roberts, Marie Claire, 16 July 2017
• By the end of the quarter, the Bucks held a tenuous eight-point margin.
  — Matt Velazquez, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 22 Apr. 2018
• But in the final minute of the U.S. and France matchup, France held a tenuous 4-point lead.
  — Andy Larsen, The Salt Lake Tribune, 8 July 2021
• And sure enough, some of his claims are tenuous or worse.
  — The Economist, 11 Jan. 2018
• The Pac-12 soon followed, with only tenuous plans to play games in the spring.
  — Washington Post, 26 Aug. 2020
• Koepka’s grip on the lead appeared tenuous at times on the back nine.
  — Brian Costa, WSJ, 17 June 2018
• And while DeSantis can still claim to be ahead of the rest of the pack, even that has begun to look tenuous.
  — David Lauter, Los Angeles Times, 28 July 2023
• Six points is a tenuous lead in the NFL, and at any moment the Patriots could have claimed the lead with a big play.
  — Sam Farmer, Los Angeles Times, 3 Dec. 2023
• His heir is a child, so a tenuous Council of Regents has been put in charge.
  — Daniel Fienberg, The Hollywood Reporter, 12 Feb. 2024
• The tenuous and drama-filled process that left politicos and voters alike on the edge of their seats was over.
  — Christal Hayes, USA TODAY, 13 Aug. 2020
• Auburn held on to its tenuous lead for eight long minutes.
  — Giana Han, al, 27 Nov. 2020
• The study’s tenuous connection to The Lancet was just one small part of its appeal.
  — Benjamin Mazer, The Atlantic, 17 May 2022
• But, as too many flirt with the antisemitism of our past, progress is tenuous.
  — Julia Jassey, New York Daily News, 20 Feb. 2024
• That support for Lukashenko is looking all the more tenuous as protests mount.
  — Washington Post, 18 Aug. 2020
• The boundaries between the therapy room and the world are tenuous.
  — Sarah Darghouth, STAT, 8 Dec. 2023
• McCarthy’s hold on the speakership has been tenuous from the start.
  — Erin B. Logan, Los Angeles Times, 2 Oct. 2023
• The highlights have given Luca a grasp on the actual rules of the game that is tenuous at best.
  — Jason Horowitz, The New Yorker, 9 Nov. 2022
• Elflein’s handle on the left guard job seems more tenuous given his problems the last two years.
  — Mark Craig, Star Tribune, 6 Aug. 2020
• The big problem with Keep is that its future seems tenuous.
  — David Pierce, The Verge, 25 Aug. 2023
• Biden and his party have a much more tenuous grip on power.
  — NBC news, 26 Apr. 2021
• In unison, the girls declared that their fans, in a rather tenuous pun, would be known as Eyekons.
  — Alex Barasch, The New Yorker, 7 Oct. 2024
• The Sun Devils went into the late innings up 14-5, only to give up two in the bottom of the eighth and three in the ninth, making the lead tenuous at best.
  — Michelle Gardner, The Arizona Republic, 25 May 2023
• Most coaches who do that have a tenuous hold on their locker room at best.
  — Dave Birkett, Detroit Free Press, 5 Nov. 2019
• From the get-go, there are hints of how tenuous this new beginning is for the Yi family.
  — Anne Anlin Cheng, The Atlantic, 19 Feb. 2021
• Heirs are rarely aware of the tenuous nature of their ownership.
  — Lizzie Presser, ProPublica, 15 July 2019
• Even though the offseason changes to the forward group made a spot in the lineup more tenuous, Kostin has been a disappointment.
  — Eric Stephens, The Athletic, 22 Nov. 2024
• The international concert of nation-states—a tenuous and shifting equilibrium achieved in the last few centuries—has held in part because of the inherent equality of the players.
  — Henry A. Kissinger, Foreign Affairs, 18 Nov. 2024

Last Updated: 15 Dec 2024