tenue

[ˈt̪enwe]

/[ˈt̪enwe]/ adj

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

The verdict

“tenue” has 6 generated spelling variants in the Spanish index at frequency #25,064. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#25,064
frequency rank, Spanish
3,005
“T” headwords
6
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - De poca o suave intensidad, fuerza, sustancia o consistencia.

Corpus desk

Index ES-tenue · tenue · Spanish

tenue · rank #25,064 · 6 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #25,064
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 6 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,005
  • PHOTO-FINISH then

Nearest frequency peer: then (+1 rank slots)

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Pares de rango junto al imán ortográfico “tenue”

Misma franja de rareza: útil si un typo cae en un lema vecino

corpus weight

What this shows “tenue” está entre estos pares FrequencyWords; la profundidad de typo se mide aparte en el gráfico de distancia de edición.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

tenue vs true
60% similar
tenue vs tere
60% similar
tenue vs tone
60% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for tenue
PropertyValue
Headwordtenue
LanguageSpanish
Part of speechAdjective
IPA[ˈt̪enwe]
Letters5
Frequency rank#25,064
Misspellings tracked6
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frecuencia del imán ortográfico “tenue”

La frecuencia va del puñado de palabras que usamos sin parar (izquierda) a la cola larga que apenas aparece (derecha).tenuecae aquí:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

La escala es logarítmica (cada marca ≈ 10× más rara). En la misma franja de rareza aparecen “then” (#25,065), “temáticos” (#25,062), “tejer” (#25,061). Entre 3,005 lemas con “T”, “tenue” va en #25,064. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 6 spelling variants around tenue (IPA [ˈt̪enwe]), anadjective. Corpus frequency is #25,064 among 3,005 “T” headwords. Wiktionary lists 3 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 6 likely wrong-spelling variants for tenue, with forms such as "etnue", "teneu", and "tennue". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "true", "tere", "tone", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

This entry carries no recorded etymology, so any spelling logic here comes from how the word's sounds map to letters, not a documented origin story. The correct Spanish form is tenue, spelled T-E-N-U-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    De poca o suave intensidad, fuerza, sustancia o consistencia.
  2. 2
    De poco valor, impacto o importancia.
  3. 3
    En la comunicación a través de la lengua, se dice del estilo o expresión directos y natural, sin excesivo adorno, artificio o verbosidad.

Synonyms

llanosencillo

This word in other languages

tenuous(English)ténu(Français)heikel(Deutsch)tênue(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • etnue
  • teneu
  • tennue
  • teune
  • tneue
  • ttenue

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of tenue - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

etnue2teneu2tennue1teune2tneue2ttenue1
Edit distance from "tenue"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 Spanish corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "tenue"?
"tenue" is spelled T-E-N-U-E. The IPA pronunciation is [ˈt̪enwe].
What does "tenue" mean?
As an adjective, "tenue" means: De poca o suave intensidad, fuerza, sustancia o consistencia.
What words are commonly confused with "tenue"?
"tenue" is commonly confused with "true", "tere", "tone". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "tenue"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "tenue" is [ˈt̪enwe]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "tenue" come from?
"tenue" is a Spanish word. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for this and other words across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German on PlainSpell.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar Spanish words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "tenue", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked Spanish headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

tejer#25,061Tanga#25,059swing#25,058youth#25,100

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (6 here; floor ≥5).

then6 variantspegué6 variantsapela6 variantsArdua6 variants

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list