tenderness
Appearance
English
[edit]Alternative forms
[edit]- tendernesse (obsolete)
Etymology
[edit]Pronunciation
[edit]- (General American) IPA(key): /ˈtɛn.dɚ.nɪs/
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈtɛn.də.nɪs/
Audio (US): (file) - Hyphenation: ten‧der‧ness
Noun
[edit]tenderness (countable and uncountable, plural tendernesses)
- A tendency to express warm, compassionate feelings.
- When the lovers were together, their cold indifference gave way to love and tenderness.
- 1853, Charlotte Brontë, Villette:
- I had known him jealous, suspicious; I had seen about him certain tendernesses, fitfulnesses—a softness which came like a warm air, and a ruth which passed like early dew, dried in the heat of his irritabilities: this was all I had seen.
- A concern for the feelings or welfare of others.
- When they saw the poor orphans, they were overwhelmed with tenderness for them.
- Everybody needs a little tenderness sometimes.
- (medicine, pathology) A pain or discomfort when an affected area is touched.
- He noted her extreme tenderness when he touched the bruise on her thigh.
Derived terms
[edit]Translations
[edit]a tendency to express warm, compassionate feelings
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concern for the feelings or welfare of others
pain or discomfort when an affected area is touched
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softness of food when chewing
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