What does tenderness mean?

Definitions for tenderness
ten·der·ness

This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word tenderness.

Princeton's WordNet

  1. tendernessnoun

    a tendency to express warm and affectionate feeling

  2. tenderness, soreness, rawnessnoun

    a pain that is felt (as when the area is touched)

    "the best results are generally obtained by inserting the needle into the point of maximum tenderness"; "after taking a cold, rawness of the larynx and trachea come on"

  3. tenderness, tenderheartednessnoun

    warm compassionate feelings

  4. affection, affectionateness, fondness, tenderness, heart, warmness, warmheartedness, philianoun

    a positive feeling of liking

    "he had trouble expressing the affection he felt"; "the child won everyone's heart"; "the warmness of his welcome made us feel right at home"

  5. softheartedness, tendernessnoun

    a feeling of concern for the welfare of someone (especially someone defenseless)

Wiktionary

  1. tendernessnoun

    a tendency to express warm, compassionate feelings

    When the lovers were together, their cold indifference gave way to love and tenderness.

  2. tendernessnoun

    concern for the feelings or welfare of others

    When they saw the poor orphans, they were overwhelmed with tenderness for them.

  3. tendernessnoun

    pain or discomfort when an affected area is touched

    He noted her extreme tenderness when he touched the bruise on her thigh.

Samuel Johnson's Dictionary

  1. Tendernessnoun

    Etymology: tendresse, Fr. from tender.

    Pied cattle are spotted in their tongues, the tenderness of the part receiving more easily alterations than other parts of the flesh. Francis Bacon.

    The difference of the muscular flesh depends upon the hardness, tenderness, moisture, or driness of the fibres. Arbuth.

    A quickness and tenderness of sight could not endure bright sun-shine. John Locke.

    Any zealous for his country, must conquer that tenderness and delicacy which may make him afraid of being spoken ill of. Addison.

    There are examples of wounded persons, that have roared for anguish at the discharge of ordnance, though at a great distance; what insupportable torture then should we be under upon a like concussion in the air, when all the whole body would have the tenderness of a wound. Richard Bentley, Sermons.

    Weep no more, lest I give cause
    To be suspected of more tenderness
    Than doth become a man. William Shakespeare.

    Well we know your tenderness of heart,
    And gentle, kind, effeminate remorse
    To your kindred. William Shakespeare, Richard III.

    With what a graceful tenderness he loves!
    And breathes the softest, the sincerest vows! Addison.

    Having no children, she did with singular care and tenderness intend the education of Philip and Margaret. Francis Bacon.

    My conscience first receiv’d a tenderness,
    Scruple, and prick, on certain speeches utter’d
    By th’ bishop of Bayon. William Shakespeare, Henry VIII.

    Some are unworthily censured for keeping their own, whom tenderness how to get honestly teacheth to spend discreetly; whereas such need no great thriftiness in preserving their own who assume more liberty in exacting from others. Henry Wotton.

    True tenderness of conscience is nothing else but an awful and exact sense of the rule which should direct it; and while it steers by this compass, and is sensible of every declination from it, so long it is properly tender. South.

    There being implanted in every man’s nature a great tenderness of reputation, to be careless of it is looked on as a mark of a degenerous mind. Government of the Tongue.

Wikipedia

  1. Tenderness

    Tenderness is a song by General Public from their 1984 album All the Rage, produced by I. R. S. Records. It was featured in the film Ferris Bueller's Day Off.

ChatGPT

  1. tenderness

    Tenderness is a feeling or display of warmth, affection, sympathy, or compassion towards others. It can also refer to a characteristic of sensitivity to touch or pain, particularly used in a medical context. Additionally, in relation to food, tenderness refers to the quality of being easy to chew or cut.

Webster Dictionary

  1. Tendernessnoun

    the quality or state of being tender (in any sense of the adjective)

Usage in printed sourcesFrom: 

How to pronounce tenderness?

How to say tenderness in sign language?

Numerology

  1. Chaldean Numerology

    The numerical value of tenderness in Chaldean Numerology is: 5

  2. Pythagorean Numerology

    The numerical value of tenderness in Pythagorean Numerology is: 6

Examples of tenderness in a Sentence

  1. Lawrence Durrell:

    It's only with great vulgarity that you can achieve real refinement, only out of bawdy that you can get tenderness.

  2. Randolph Ray:

    Kindness is the life's blood, the elixir of marriage. Kindness makes the difference between passion and caring. Kindness is tenderness. Kindness is love, but perhaps greater than love ... Kindness is good will. Kindness says, 'I want you to be happy.' Kindness comes very close to the benevolence of God.

  3. Susanna Wesley:

    Whatsoever weakens your reason, impairs the tenderness of your conscience, obscures your sense of God, takes off your relish for spiritual things, whatever increases the authority of the body over the mind, that thing is sin to you, however innocent it may seem in itself.

  4. Mary Noel-Berje:

    11 children were released because of their tenderness... the very little ones that couldn't go through the bush path, the kidnappers' escape route, were released.

  5. Pope Francis:

    We want to respond to the pandemic of the virus with the universality of prayer, of compassion, of tenderness, let's remain united.

Popularity rank by frequency of use

tenderness#10000#26713#100000

Translations for tenderness

From our Multilingual Translation Dictionary

Get even more translations for tenderness »

Translation

Find a translation for the tenderness definition in other languages:

Select another language:

  • - Select -
  • 简体中文 (Chinese - Simplified)
  • 繁體中文 (Chinese - Traditional)
  • Español (Spanish)
  • Esperanto (Esperanto)
  • 日本語 (Japanese)
  • Português (Portuguese)
  • Deutsch (German)
  • العربية (Arabic)
  • Français (French)
  • Русский (Russian)
  • ಕನ್ನಡ (Kannada)
  • 한국어 (Korean)
  • עברית (Hebrew)
  • Gaeilge (Irish)
  • Українська (Ukrainian)
  • اردو (Urdu)
  • Magyar (Hungarian)
  • मानक हिन्दी (Hindi)
  • Indonesia (Indonesian)
  • Italiano (Italian)
  • தமிழ் (Tamil)
  • Türkçe (Turkish)
  • తెలుగు (Telugu)
  • ภาษาไทย (Thai)
  • Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese)
  • Čeština (Czech)
  • Polski (Polish)
  • Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian)
  • Românește (Romanian)
  • Nederlands (Dutch)
  • Ελληνικά (Greek)
  • Latinum (Latin)
  • Svenska (Swedish)
  • Dansk (Danish)
  • Suomi (Finnish)
  • فارسی (Persian)
  • ייִדיש (Yiddish)
  • հայերեն (Armenian)
  • Norsk (Norwegian)
  • English (English)

Word of the Day

Would you like us to send you a FREE new word definition delivered to your inbox daily?

Please enter your email address:


Citation

Use the citation below to add this definition to your bibliography:

Style:MLAChicagoAPA

"tenderness." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 9 Oct. 2024. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/tenderness>.

Discuss these tenderness definitions with the community:

0 Comments

    Are we missing a good definition for tenderness? Don't keep it to yourself...

    Free, no signup required:

    Add to Chrome

    Get instant definitions for any word that hits you anywhere on the web!

    Free, no signup required:

    Add to Firefox

    Get instant definitions for any word that hits you anywhere on the web!

    Quiz

    Are you a words master?

    »
    directed outward; marked by interest in others or concerned with external reality
    A extroversive
    B indiscernible
    C butch
    D ambidextrous

    Nearby & related entries:

    Alternative searches for tenderness: