ténue
/ˈtɛ.nwɨ/
The verdict
“ténue” is an uncommon Portuguese word, ranked #55,298 in Portuguese word frequency and used as an adjective.
- #55,298
- frequency rank, Portuguese
- 5
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - com pouca consistência ou espessura
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | ténue |
| Language | Portuguese |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /ˈtɛ.nwɨ/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #55,298 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “ténue” sits in Portuguese frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The Portuguese entry for ténue is 5 letters long, classified as an adjective, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈtɛ.nwɨ/. Corpus data places it at rank #55,298 in overall Portuguese word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 4 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
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
- 1com pouca consistência ou espessura
- 2frágil
- 3delgado
- 4de pouca importância e/ou ponderabilidade
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
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Using “ténue”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct Portuguese spelling is T-É-N-U-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈtɛ.nwɨ/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more Portuguese words and confusable pairs in the same reference. Portuguese words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.