tênue
Portuguese, adjective
tênue is spelled T-Ê-N-U-E (5 letters) and appears 1.7 times per million words in written Portuguese, the 24,882nd most frequent Portuguese word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Tênue is a Portuguese feminine adjective meaning “Brazilian Portuguese standard spelling of ténue” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). With an accent, ténue is a different word: “tenuous, thin, weak”. The Portuguese Wiktionary (Wikcionário) defines it as “frágil, fraco”.
What does tênue mean in English?
adjective
- 1
femininemasculineBrazilian Portuguese standard spelling of ténue
adjective
- 1
femininemasculinetenuous, thin, weak
- 2
femininemasculinefaint, dim, soft
- 3
femininemasculinesubtle
Source: English Wiktionary, Portuguese section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How Portuguese dictionaries define it
adjective: 1. com pouca consistência ou espessura 2. frágil 3. delgado 4. de pouca importância e/ou ponderabilidade
adjective: 1. frágil, fraco
The definition in the Portuguese Wiktionary (Wikcionário), in Portuguese.
Source: Portuguese Wiktionary (Wikcionário), dump of September 1, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org.
Forms of tênue
- ténues plural
- tênue alternative Brazil
- tênues plural
Source: English Wiktionary and Portuguese Wiktionary (Wikcionário) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
English words that translate to tênue
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is tênue in Portuguese?
tênue appears 1.7 times per million words in written Portuguese.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).