Synonyms for tenderness
ten·der·ness

English Synonyms and AntonymsRate these synonyms:5.0 / 1 vote

1. tenderness

   An attachment is a feeling that binds a person by ties of heart to another person or thing; we speak of a man's adherence to his purpose, his adhesion to his party, or to anything to which he clings tenaciously, tho with no special tenderness; of his attachment to his church, to the old homestead, or to any persons or objects that he may hold dear. Affection expresses more warmth of feeling; we should not speak of a mother's attachment to her babe, but of her affection or of her devotion. Inclination expresses simply a tendency, which may be good or bad, yielded to or overcome; as, an inclination to study; an inclination to drink. Regard is more distant than affection or attachment, but closer and warmer than esteem; we speak of high esteem, kind regard. Compare ACQUAINTANCE; APPENDAGE; FRIENDSHIP; LOVE; UNION.

   Synonyms:
   adherence, adhesion, affection, attachment, devotion, esteem, esteem, estimation, friendship, inclination, love, regard, union

   Antonyms:
   alienation, animosity, antipathy, aversion, coolness, dislike, distance, divorce, enmity, estrangement, indifference, opposition, repugnance, separation, severance

   Preposition:
   Attachment of a true man to his friends; attachment to a leader for his nobility of character; the attachments between two persons or things; attachment by muscular fibers, or by a rope, etc.

Complete Dictionary of Synonyms and AntonymsRate these synonyms:0.0 / 0 votes

1. tenderness

   Synonyms:
   delicacy, softness, kindness, sensibility, pity, benevolence, humanity, clemency, beneficence

Princeton's WordNetRate these synonyms:5.0 / 2 votes

1. tendernessnoun

   a tendency to express warm and affectionate feeling

   Synonyms:
   heart, rawness, warmheartedness, soreness, tenderheartedness, philia, affectionateness, softheartedness, warmness, affection, fondness

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"

   Synonyms:
   heart, rawness, warmheartedness, soreness, inexperience, tenderheartedness, irritation, philia, incompleteness, affectionateness, softheartedness, warmness, affection, fondness, discomfort

3. tenderness, tenderheartednessnoun

   warm compassionate feelings

   Synonyms:
   heart, rawness, warmheartedness, soreness, tenderheartedness, philia, affectionateness, softheartedness, warmness, affection, fondness

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"

   Synonyms:
   affection, rawness, partiality, affectionateness, substance, philia, meat, centre, lovingness, center, core, marrow, sum, nerve, ticker, warmth, fancy, nub, kernel, nitty-gritty, spirit, softheartedness, gist, tenderheartedness, warmness, inwardness, pith, heart, bosom, pump, essence, mettle, warmheartedness, heart and soul, fondness, soreness, spunk, eye, middle

5. softheartedness, tendernessnoun

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

   Synonyms:
   rawness, heart, soreness, warmheartedness, tenderheartedness, philia, affectionateness, softheartedness, warmness, affection, fondness

Matched Categories

1. • Affectionateness
   • Compassion
   • Concern
   • Pain

Dictionary of English SynonymesRate these synonyms:0.0 / 0 votes

1. tendernessnoun

   Synonyms:
   softness, delicacy, want of firmness

2. tendernessnoun

   Synonyms:
   weakness, want of strength, feebleness

3. tendernessnoun

   Synonyms:
   effeminacy, womanly quality

4. tendernessnoun

   Synonyms:
   soreness, sensitiveness

5. tendernessnoun

   Synonyms:
   compassion, kindness, sympathy, affection, pity, love, gentleness, benevolence, leniency, clemency, sensibility, mildness, benignity, humanity, loving-kindness

6. tendernessnoun

   Synonyms:
   pathos

7. tendernessnoun

   Synonyms:
   caution, carefulness

PPDB, the paraphrase databaseRate these paraphrases:0.0 / 0 votes

1. List of paraphrases for "tenderness":

   sensitivity, susceptibility, affection, sweetness, sensibility, tender, sensitivities, fondness

How to pronounce tenderness?

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Words popularity by usage frequency

How to use tenderness in a sentence?

1. Janvier Chouteu-Chando:

   ...Truth presented with tenderness enriches the soul of man and enhances humanity in the process. A Franco-Cameroonian relation based on truth and nurtured with tenderness will be to the benefit not only of Kamerun and France, but also of mankind as a whole.”

2. Georges Bernanos:

   What a cunning mixture of sentiment, pity, tenderness, irony surrounds adolescence, what knowing watchfulness Young birds on their first flight are hardly so hovered around.

3. Edward Gibbon:

   I understand by this passion the union of desire, friendship, and tenderness, which is inflamed by a single female, which prefers her to the rest of her sex, and which seeks her possession as the supreme or the sole happiness of our being.

4. Jane Austen:

   There is no charm equal to the tenderness of heart.

5. Robert Southey:

   Would you who judge of the lawfulness or unlawfulness of pleasure, take this rule; whatever weakens your reason, impairs the tenderness of your conscience, obscures your sense of God, or takes off the relish of spiritual things; in short; whatever increases the strength and authority of your body over your mind, that is sin to you; however innocent it may be in itself.