ténue

/ˈtɛ.nwɨ/

//ˈtɛ.nwɨ// adj

The verdict

“ténue” is uncommon Portuguese (frequency #55,298 among 917 “T” headwords), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#55,298
frequency rank, Portuguese
917
“T” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - com pouca consistência ou espessura

Corpus desk

Index PT-tenue · ténue · Portuguese

ténue · rank #55,298 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #55,298
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 917
  • PHOTO-FINISH tweed

Nearest frequency peer: tweed (-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.

Ranks da cauda longa perto de “ténue”

Faixa escassa: as barras invertem o rank para o raro ler-se mais curto

corpus weight

What this shows Vista da cauda longa: onde “ténue” se situa face a ranks portugueses igualmente raros.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for ténue
PropertyValue
Headwordténue
LanguagePortuguese
Part of speechAdjective
IPA/ˈtɛ.nwɨ/
Letters5
Frequency rank#55,298
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Cauda longa: rank de “ténue” em português

Esta escala corre do núcleo do português quotidiano (esquerda) até o rastro de formas raras (direita).ténuecai nesta cauda de raridade:

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

A escala é logarítmica (cada marca ≈ 10× mais rara). Vizinhos raros da mesma faixa: “tweed” (#55,297), “transport” (#55,289), “torácico” (#55,285). Entre 917 lemas com “T”, “ténue” fica em #55,298. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

ténue is uncommon Portuguese at frequency #55,298 among 917 “T” headwords, classed as anadjective, transcribed /ˈtɛ.nwɨ/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 4 senses are on record.

Zero misspellings are on record for ténue in our index, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

Our source data has no etymology on file for this entry, so any spelling logic here comes from how the word's sounds map to letters, not a documented origin story. The correct Portuguese form is ténue, spelled T-É-N-U-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    com pouca consistência ou espessura
  2. 2
    frágil
  3. 3
    delgado
  4. 4
    de pouca importância e/ou ponderabilidade

Synonyms

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 Portuguese corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "ténue"?
"ténue" is spelled T-É-N-U-E. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈtɛ.nwɨ/.
What does "ténue" mean?
As an adjective, "ténue" means: com pouca consistência ou espessura
How do you pronounce "ténue"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "ténue" is /ˈtɛ.nwɨ/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "ténue" come from?
"ténue" is a Portuguese word. PlainSpell's reference spans five languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German -- with definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for each.
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 Portuguese words by spelling shape

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

Same letter count

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

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list