tenue
Spanish, adjective/ˈtenwe/
tenue is spelled T-E-N-U-E (5 letters) and appears 1.7 times per million words in written Spanish, the 24,753rd most frequent Spanish word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Tenue is a Spanish feminine adjective meaning “tenuous, thin, weak” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The Spanish Wiktionary (Wikcionario) defines it as “De poca o suave intensidad, fuerza, sustancia o consistencia”.
What does tenue mean in English?
adjective
- 1
femininemasculinetenuous, thin, weak
- 2
femininemasculinefaint, dim, wispy, soft, subdued, pale
Vio una luz tenue en la distancia.
Source: English Wiktionary, Spanish section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How Spanish dictionaries define it
adjective: 1. De poca o suave intensidad, fuerza, sustancia o consistencia. 2. De poco valor, impacto o importancia. 3. En la comunicación a través de la lengua, se dice del estilo o expresión directos y natural, sin excesivo adorno, artificio o verbosidad.
The definition in the Spanish Wiktionary (Wikcionario), in Spanish.
Source: Spanish Wiktionary (Wikcionario), dump of September 1, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org.
Forms of tenue
- tenues feminine masculine plural
- tenuísimo superlative
Source: English Wiktionary and Spanish Wiktionary (Wikcionario) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
How do you pronounce tenue?
- /ˈtenwe/
- [ˈt̪e.nwe]
- [ˈt̪enwe]
Sources: English Wiktionary, Spanish Wiktionary (Wikcionario) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026); recordings from Wikimedia Commons.
English words that translate to tenue
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is tenue in Spanish?
tenue appears 1.7 times per million words in written Spanish.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).