- 1kind, gentle and loving tender words What he needs now is a lot of tender loving care (= sympathetic treatment). Oxford Collocations Dictionary verbsbe, feel, seem, … adverbachingly, very, almost, … prepositiontowards/toward See full entry See related entries: Kind
- 2(of food) easy to bite through and cut This meat is extremely tender. Boil the beans until they are tender. opposite tough Wordfindercrispchewy, creamy, crisp, crunchy, greasy, juicy, mushy, rubbery, tender, tough Oxford Collocations Dictionary verbsbe, seem, become, … adverbbeautifully, deliciously, exceptionally, … See full entry See related entries: Texture of food
- 3(of part of the body) painful when you touch it synonym sore My leg is still very tender where I banged it. Oxford Collocations Dictionary verbsbe, feel, look, … adverbextremely, fairly, very, … See full entry
- 4easily hurt or damaged synonym delicate tender young plants Word Originadjective Middle English: from Old French tendre, from Latin tener ‘tender, delicate’.Extra examples He felt tender and loving towards her. Her expression became soft, almost tender. The back of my neck feels very tender. The letters to Penelope are achingly tender. This meat is beautifully tender. I listened to his tender words, and started to feel better. What he needs now is a lot of tender loving care.Idioms
tender
adjectiveBrE BrE//ˈtendə(r)//; NAmE NAmE//ˈtendər//
(tenderer, tenderest) more tender and most tender are also common Texture of food, Kindused in connection with somebody who is still young and does not have much experience He left home at the tender age of 15. She shouldn't be having to deal with problems like this at such a tender age.
Check pronunciation: tender
