Literary notes about Tenuous (AI summary)
In literature, the word "tenuous" often conveys a sense of fragility or insubstantiality, whether describing physical elements, abstract concepts, or interpersonal bonds. Writers use it to evoke images of barely perceptible sounds—such as the faint vibrations of a clavichord [1]—or to suggest the delicate nature of relationships and ideas, as in social trust or political allegiances [2][3]. It also appears in more literal descriptions, painting ethereal pictures like a slim, barely visible vapor [4] or a fragile bridge spanning a deep gorge [5]. Furthermore, the term is employed to capture the ephemeral quality of thoughts or dreams, hinting at how fleeting and insubstantial these mental impressions can be [6][7]. Through these varied uses, "tenuous" enriches the narrative by emphasizing the delicate balance between presence and absence, solidity and dissolution.
- Caroline drifted finally into the chamber back of the dining room, and they could hear the tenuous vibrations of the clavichord.
— from The Three Black Pennys: A Novel by Joseph Hergesheimer - And the ever tenuous, ever important trust between the citizens and their rulers and among themselves was thus enhanced.
— from After the Rain : how the West lost the East by Samuel Vaknin - After a time the improbability became tenuous.
— from The Silent Places by Stewart Edward White - The tenuous vapor, too, seemed to swirl his way.
— from The Forgotten Planet by Murray Leinster - To reach this terminal—upon the West Side of the town—it was necessary to build a very high and tenuous bridge over the deep gorge of the Genesee.
— from The Story of the Rome, Watertown, and Ogdensburg Railroad by Edward Hungerford - She seemed suddenly to have dissolved into the tenuous substance of a dream, and as he continued to gaze upon her, she faded slowly from his sight.
— from Thuvia, Maid of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs - " Something began to glimmer in my mind—the vaguest, most tenuous shadow of an idea; a tantalizing, hide-and-seek phantom of a thought.
— from A Woman Named Smith by Marie Conway Oemler