[
US
/ˈtɛnətɪv, ˈtɛntətɪv/
]
[ UK /tˈɛntətˌɪv/ ]
[ UK /tˈɛntətˌɪv/ ]
ADJECTIVE
-
unsettled in mind or opinion
drew a few tentative conclusions -
under terms not final or fully worked out or agreed upon
probationary employees
just a tentative schedule
a provisional government
How To Use tentative In A Sentence
- Klimt's tentative chalk and pencil strokes do little more than outline and emphasize the foreshortened legs, buttocks and genitalia of his subjects, their scrawled lifelessness compromising the images' erotic impact. Modernism's Austrian Rebels
- Reaching out tentatively towards me, he fingered the pair of rings I always wore on a chain around my neck.
- The Nobel laureate Richard Feynman once made a tentative suggestion that a theory uniting quantum mechanics and relativity might lead to an objective state reduction, and others have taken up and built on this idea.
- It is a challenging question without a clear answer, but some tentative suggestions can be attempted. Times, Sunday Times
- I took a tentative sip of my wine: a muddy Pinot Grigio from the reed-riddled fields of some reclaimed Italian marsh. THE CALLIGRAPHER
- What the something might be, the sound soon explained; he was applying keys tentatively to a cupboard, a closet, and a scrutoire, in the hidden part of the room. Note Book of an English Opium-Eater
- At times the home rearguard looked tentative. Times, Sunday Times
- It rejected a host of tentative offers for the business in favour of selling individual stores. The Sun
- If you're taking tentative steps up the professional ladder, consider all the options.
- However, he played with some uncertainty and tentativeness, and no one is sure just how durable he will be.
