Make Your Point: TENTATIVE

Make Your Point > Archived Issues > TENTATIVE

Send Make Your Point issues straight to your inbox.

pronounce TENTATIVE:

TEN tuh tiv

connect this word to others:

Picture a kid at dinner reaching tentatively for a stalk of broccoli, giving you the side eye as they carefully pinch off the tiniest bite and bring it, slowly reluctantly, to their mouth.

Now picture a jellyfish using its tentacles to reach out for tiny plants and fish to snack on.

It's that idea of reaching, feeling, and trying things out that unites the words tentacle and tentative. They both come from the Latin tentare, meaning "to try, to touch, to feel, or to test."

If you're being tentative, you're being cautious, hesitant, unsure, undecided, am__alent (feeling torn between your options), or vac___atory (changing your mind back and forth). Could you recall those last two synonyms?

(To reveal any word with blanks, give it a click.)

definition:

"Tentative" comes from a Latin word that means "feeling things out; trying things out."

It's been around in English since the year 1588 or so.

We use it to describe things and people that are unsure or undecided, because people haven't yet made up their minds about what they want to do.

grammatical bits:

Part of speech:

Adjective: "a tentative smile;" "Our plans are still tentative."

Other forms:

Tentatively, tentativeness.

how to use it:

Pick the formal word "tentative" when you need to strike a serious tone.

You might describe people's tentative sounds and movements: their tentative smiles, steps, bites, sniffs, voices, words, or laughter that reveal how they feel unsure, uncertain, and cautious about what they're doing or saying.

Or you might describe people's tentative plans, goals, arrangements, or reports: the kind that are up in the air, not set in stone, not fully decided yet, not final.

examples:

"She nibbled the pastry as tentatively as a deer."
— Daniel Nayeri, Everything Sad is Untrue, 2020

"The boy received the ball from Coach Spinks, took one tentative, almost apologetic dribble toward the basket, then stopped and looked for his partner."
— Pat Conroy, The Great Santini, 1976

has this page helped you understand "tentative"?

Awesome, I'm glad it helped!

Thanks for letting me know!
If you have any questions about this word, please message me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com.

study it:

Explain the meaning of "tentative" without saying "unsure" or "not set in stone."

try it out:

Think about a time you weren't yet fully committed to an action or a plan.

Fill in the blanks: "(At some particular time or place), I took a tentative step toward (something)."

Literal example: "In the classroom, I took a tentative step toward the hamster's cage. He looked soft, but would he bite?"

Figurative example: "In 2009 or so, I ordered business cards—a tentative and inexpensive step toward starting my own business."

before you review, play:

Try to spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—first, let your working memory empty out.

Our game for this month is "Oh Hey, That's the Title!"

I'll give you a short excerpt from a novel, a play, or a short story. In this excerpt, a character or a narrator actually says the story's title. (If not verbatim, then almost.) And you give me the story's title.

Highlight the hints if you need them, and see the answer by scrolling all the way down. Enjoy!

Try this one today:

"So Taborlin fell, but he did not despair. For he knew _____ _____ _____ _____ _____, and so the wind obeyed him. He spoke to the wind and it cradled and caressed him. It bore him to the ground as gently as a puff of thistledown and set him on his feet softly as a mother's kiss.”

To reveal the hints below, highlight the hidden white text.

Hint 1: This story was published in the year... 2007.
Hint 2: This story was written by... Patrick Rothfuss.
Hint 3: The first letters of each word in this title are... "T____ N____ o____ t____ W____."

review this word:

1. Opposites of TENTATIVE include

A. ASSERTIVE and CONFIDENT.
B. PERMANENT and STORM-READY.
C. HALF-HEARTED and LACKADAISICAL.

2. In Kindred, Octavia E. Butler wrote, "The words came out _____ and tentative as though _____."

A. eager .. he was hungry to hear them
B. low .. he didn't quite believe them himself
C. chipper .. he was pretending for my benefit

a final word:

I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love. I'm Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words.

From my blog:
On vocabulary...
  36 ways to study words.
  Why we forget words, & how to remember them.
  How to use sophisticated words without being awkward.
On writing...
How to improve any sentence.
How to motivate our kids to write.
How to stop procrastinating and start writing.
How to bulk up your writing when you have to meet a word count.

From my heart: a profound thanks to the generous patrons, donors, and sponsors that make it possible for me to write these emails. If you'd like to be a patron or a donor, please click here. If you'd like to be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com.

A disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes.

Make Your Point > Archived Issues > TENTATIVE Send Make Your Point issues straight to your inbox.

Subscribe to "Make Your Point" for a daily vocabulary boost.

Make Your Point > Archived Issues > TENTATIVE

Send Make Your Point issues straight to your inbox.