ténu
French, adjective
ténu is spelled T-É-N-U (4 letters) and appears 56 times per million words in written French, the 1,478th most frequent French word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Ténu is a French adjective meaning “tenuous” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). Without its accent, tenu is a different word: “past participle of tenir”. The French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) defines it as “Qui est très délié, mince, étroit, de peu de consistance, très fin”.
What does ténu mean in English?
adjective
- 1
tenuous
- 2
thin, slender
verb
- 1
past participle of tenir
Source: English Wiktionary, French section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How French dictionaries define it
adjective: 1. Qui est entretenu, soigné, arrangé, suivi. 2. Qui est obligé à faire quelque chose. 3. Quand les termes d’un pari sont acceptés.
adjective: 1. Qui est très délié, mince, étroit, de peu de consistance, très fin.
The definition in the French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire), in French.
Source: French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire), dump of September 1, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org.
Forms of ténu
- ténue feminine
- ténus masculine plural
- ténues feminine plural
- tenue feminine
- tenus masculine plural
- tenues feminine plural
Source: English Wiktionary and French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
English words that translate to ténu
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is ténu in French?
ténu appears 56 times per million words in written French.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).