tenderness
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
English
Alternative forms
- tendernesse (obsolete)
Etymology
Pronunciation
- (General American) IPA(key): /ˈtɛn.dɚ.nɪs/
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈtɛn.də.nɪs/
Audio (US): (file) - Hyphenation: ten‧der‧ness
Noun
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
Translations
a tendency to express warm, compassionate feelings
|
concern for the feelings or welfare of others
pain or discomfort when an affected area is touched
|
softness of food when chewing
|