Tender — Meaning, Definition & Synonyms

adjective verb noun /ˈten-dər/ ten·der

Meaning & Definition of Tender

Tender (adjective)

  1. marked by, responding to, or expressing the softer emotions, fond, loving
  2. showing care, considerate, solicitous
  3. highly susceptible to impressions or emotions, impressionable

Tender (verb)

  1. to present for acceptance, offer
  2. to make a tender of
  3. to make a bid or tender
  4. to make tender, soften, weaken
  5. to regard or treat with tenderness
  6. to become tender

Tender (noun)

  1. an unconditional offer of money or service in satisfaction of a debt or obligation made to save a penalty or forfeiture for nonpayment or nonperformance
  2. an offer or proposal made for acceptance
  3. an offer of a bid for a contract
  4. an often breaded strip of usually breast meat; also, the tenderloin of a chicken
  5. one that tends
  6. a ship employed to attend other ships (as to supply provisions)
  7. a boat for communication or transportation between shore and a larger ship
  8. consideration, regard

Tender (adjective) — Senses, Synonyms & Antonyms

  1. easily injured without careful handling

    "a tender wound"

    "tender plants that cannot take the cold"

    "tender pride that got bruised when his girlfriend dumped him"

    similar: delicate, fragile, frail, sensitive
    related: breakable, brittle, crushable, eggshell, frangible, friable, feeble, flimsy, puny, slight, soft, tenuous, weak, nonhardy, perishable, resistless, susceptible, unresistant, vulnerable, yielding
    opposite: tough
    near: durable, firm, flinty, hard, hardy, resistant, robust, rugged, solid, sound, stiff, stout, strong, sturdy, substantial, infrangible, nonbreakable, unbreakable, hardened, inured, strengthened, tempered, toughened

  2. feeling or showing love

    "a tender embrace between father and daughter"

    similar: adoring, affectionate, devoted, fond, loving, tenderhearted
    related: caring, compassionate, considerate, cordial, doting, forgiving, friendly, humane, kind, understanding, warmhearted, ardent, fervent, impassioned, passionate, warm, amatory, amorous, erotic, enamored, infatuated, lovesick, lovey-dovey, mushy, romantic, sappy, sentimental, brotherly, fatherly, motherly, sisterly
    opposite: unloving
    near: aloof, antisocial, cold-eyed, cool, detached, distant, dry, frosty, hard-hearted, indifferent, offish, pitiless, remote, reserved, standoffish, unbending, uncaring, unfeeling, disaffected, unconcerned, uninvolved, cold, frigid, unfriendly, callous, cold-blooded, hard-boiled, heartless, ruthless, soulless, unromantic, unsentimental

  3. having or marked by sympathy and consideration for others

    "an especially tender teacher who loves having kids with special educational needs in her class"

    similar: beneficent, benevolent, benignant, compassionate, good-hearted, humane, kind, kindhearted, kindly, softhearted, sympathetic, tenderhearted, warmhearted
    related: attentive, considerate, solicitous, thoughtful, affable, amicable, benign, companionable, comradely, cordial, friendly, genial, gentle, good, good-natured, good-tempered, gracious, mild, neighborly, nice, pleasant, sweet, warm, clement, forbearing, forgiving, lenient, merciful, soft, patient, pitying, tolerant, understanding, altruistic, brotherly, charitable, freehanded, generous, greathearted, humanitarian, liberal, magnanimous, munificent, noble, openhearted, philanthropic, selfless, unselfish, unsparing, anticruelty, cruelty-free
    opposite: atrocious, barbaric, barbarous, bestial, brutal, brute, brutish, callous, cold-blooded, cruel, fiendish, hard-hearted, heartless, inhuman, inhumane, insensate, sadistic, savage, truculent, uncompassionate, unfeeling, unkind, unkindly, unsympathetic, vicious, wanton
    near: ironhearted, merciless, pitiless, ruthless, stonyhearted, inconsiderate, insensitive, thoughtless, uncaring, unthinking, grim, hard-boiled, harsh, heavy-handed, severe, stern, tough, unsentimental, hateful, malevolent, malicious, malign, malignant, mean, nasty, spiteful, virulent, antihumanitarian, uncharitable

  4. lacking bodily strength

    "a very tender child who always seems to be sick"

    similar: asthenic, debilitated, delicate, down-and-out, effete, enervated, enfeebled, faint, feeble, frail, infirm, languid, low, prostrate, prostrated, sapped, slight, soft, softened, unsubstantial, wasted, weak, weakened, wimpish, wimpy
    related: disabled, incapacitated, invalid, paralyzed, broken-down, decrepit, impotent, powerless, breakable, flimsy, fragile, dizzy, groggy, rocky, unsteady, woozy, drained, exhausted, flagging, tired, weary, worn-out, damaged, harmed, hurt, impaired, injured, unsound, resistless, susceptible, unresistant, vulnerable, yielding
    opposite: mighty, powerful, rugged, stalwart, stout, strong
    near: able-bodied, athletic, beefy, brawny, fit, husky, muscular, sinewy, strapping, virile, hard, hardy, lusty, red-blooded, robust, sturdy, tough, fortified, hardened, inured, strengthened, toughened, energetic, energized, invigorated, vigorous, vitalized, hale, healthy, sound, capable, competent, convalescing, recovering, recuperating

  5. not harsh or stern especially in nature or effect

    "his tender comments on how to improve her writing style were gratefully received"

    similar: balmy, benign, bland, delicate, gentle, light, mellow, mild, nonabrasive, soft, soothing
    related: calm, pacific, peaceful, placid, quiet, serene, tranquil, clement, compassionate, easy, lenient, merciful, buffering, cushioning, emollient, softening, sleek, slick, smooth
    opposite: abrasive, caustic, coarse, hard, harsh, rough, scathing, stern, ungentle
    near: exquisite, fierce, intense, powerful, severe, forceful, forcible, savage, violent, roughened, rugged, strong, abrading, irritating, roughening, grim, gruff, rude, stiff, heavy-handed, oppressive, pitiless, tyrannical

Tender (noun) — Senses, Synonyms & Antonyms

  1. something (as pieces of stamped metal or printed paper) customarily and legally used as a medium of exchange, a measure of value, or a means of payment

    "money from that board game is not legal tender and can't be exchanged for goods or services"

    similar: bread (slang), bucks, cabbage (slang), cash, change, chips, coin, currency, dough, gold, green, jack (slang), kale (slang), legal tender, lolly (British), long green (slang), loot, lucre, money, moola (slang), needful, pelf, scratch (slang), shekels, wampum
    related: coinage, specie, dead presidents (slang), folding money, paper money, scrip, banknote, cashier's check, check, draft, money order, note, promissory note, bill, dollar, greenback, bankroll, capital, finances, funds, roll (slang), wad, wallet, chump change, dibs (slang), dime, mite, peanuts, pittance, shoestring, big bucks, bomb (British), boodle, bundle, earth, fortune, king's ransom, megabucks, mint, packet (chiefly British), pile, pot, abundance, means, opulence, riches, treasure, wealth, resources, wherewithal, mad money, petty cash, pin money, pocket money, spending money

Tender (verb) — Senses, Synonyms & Antonyms

  1. to put before another for acceptance or consideration

    "the coach tendered his resignation and started a new career as a physical therapist"

    similar: extend, give, offer, proffer, trot out, run by
    related: pose, propose, hold out, give in, submit, volunteer
    near: accept, receive, take, accredit, approbate, approve, authorize, clear, confirm, finalize, formalize, homologate, OK, ratify, sanction, warrant, decline, deny, disallow, disapprove, negative, reject, turn down, veto, rebuff, rebut, refuse, spurn, retract, withdraw, disregard, ignore, neglect, overlook

Related Entry: Tender-minded (adjective)

Tender-minded is a different word from Tender. The synonyms below are for tender-minded, not for tender.

  1. as in sentimental, moony

    similar: dewy-eyed, moonstruck, moony, sentimental, crusading, messianic, zealous, hopeful, optimistic, Pollyannaish, rosy, upbeat, impractical, unrealistic, doctrinaire, ideological, idealist, idealistic, quixotic, quixotical, romantic, starry, starry-eyed, utopian, visionary
    opposite: clear-eyed, clear-sighted, hardheaded, hard-nosed, tough-minded, unsentimental, practical, pragmatic, realistic

Related Entry: Legal tender (noun)

Legal tender is a different word from Tender. The synonyms below are for legal tender, not for tender.

  1. something (as pieces of stamped metal or printed paper) customarily and legally used as a medium of exchange, a measure of value, or a means of payment

    "coins and bills are considered legal tender, but postage stamps are not"

    similar: bread (slang), bucks, cabbage (slang), cash, change, chips, coin, currency, dough, gold, green, jack (slang), kale (slang), lolly (British), long green (slang), loot, lucre, money, moola (slang), needful, pelf, scratch (slang), shekels, tender, wampum
    related: coinage, specie, dead presidents (slang), folding money, paper money, scrip, banknote, cashier's check, check, draft, money order, note, promissory note, bill, dollar, greenback, bankroll, capital, finances, funds, roll (slang), wad, wallet, chump change, dibs (slang), dime, mite, peanuts, pittance, shoestring, big bucks, bomb (British), boodle, bundle, earth, fortune, king's ransom, megabucks, mint, packet (chiefly British), pile, pot, abundance, means, opulence, riches, treasure, wealth, resources, wherewithal, mad money, petty cash, pin money, pocket money, spending money

Synonyms, Thesaurus & Another Word for Tender

The most common words with a similar meaning to Tender:

Slang: bread, cabbage, jack, kale, long green, moola, scratch
British: lolly
delicate, fragile, frail, sensitive, adoring, affectionate, devoted, fond, loving, tenderhearted, beneficent, benevolent, benignant, compassionate, good-hearted, humane, kind, kindhearted, kindly, softhearted, sympathetic, warmhearted, asthenic, debilitated, down-and-out, effete, enervated, enfeebled, faint, feeble, infirm, languid, low, prostrate, prostrated, sapped, slight, soft, softened, unsubstantial

Antonyms & Opposite Words for Tender

Words with the opposite meaning of Tender:

tough, unloving, atrocious, barbaric, barbarous, bestial, brutal, brute, brutish, callous, cold-blooded, cruel, fiendish, hard-hearted, heartless, inhuman, inhumane, insensate, sadistic, savage, truculent, uncompassionate, unfeeling, unkind, unkindly, unsympathetic, vicious, wanton, mighty, powerful

Related Words for Tender

breakable, brittle, crushable, eggshell, frangible, friable, flimsy, puny, tenuous, nonhardy, perishable, resistless, susceptible, unresistant, vulnerable, yielding, caring, considerate, cordial, doting, forgiving, friendly, understanding, ardent, fervent, impassioned, passionate, warm, amatory, amorous

Near Antonyms of Tender

durable, firm, flinty, hardy, resistant, robust, solid, sound, stiff, sturdy, substantial, infrangible, nonbreakable, unbreakable, hardened, inured, strengthened, tempered, toughened, aloof, antisocial, cold-eyed, cool, detached, distant, dry, frosty, indifferent, offish, pitiless

Word Forms of Tender

Inflections: tendered, tendering

Derived words: tenderly (adverb)

Origin & Etymology of Tender

Middle English tendre, tender, borrowed from Anglo-French tendre, going back to Latin tener "soft, delicate (of persons or parts of the body), immature, yielding easily, sensitive," probably by metathesis from *terenos or *terunos, going back to Indo-European, whence also Greek térēn "soft, tender," Sanskrit taruṇa- "young, tender, fresh," Avestan tauruna- "young," (as noun) "boy"

First known use: 13th century

Vocabulary Lists & Topics for Tender

  • Topics: Feelings & Emotions, Business & Economics

Words & Phrases Containing Tender

tender-headed, tender-minded, tender offer

Frequently Asked Questions about Tender

What does "Tender" mean?

"Tender" means marked by, responding to, or expressing the softer emotions, fond, loving. As an an adjective, a verb and a noun, it is defined as: marked by, responding to, or expressing the softer emotions, fond, loving. It has 7 distinct senses.

What is another word for "Tender"?

Other words for "Tender" include delicate, fragile, frail, sensitive, adoring, affectionate, devoted and fond. The best synonym depends on which meaning of "Tender" you intend.

What are different ways to say "Tender"?

There are 269 words and phrases with a similar meaning to "Tender". Common alternatives include delicate, fragile, frail, sensitive, adoring, affectionate, devoted, fond, loving and tenderhearted.

What is a slang word for "Tender"?

Slang words for "Tender" include bread, cabbage, jack, kale, long green and moola.

What is the opposite of "Tender"?

Antonyms of "Tender" include tough, unloving, atrocious, barbaric, barbarous, bestial, brutal and brute. Near antonyms include durable, firm, flinty and hardy.

How do you use "Tender" in a sentence?

Examples of "Tender" in a sentence: "a tender wound"; "tender plants that cannot take the cold"; "tender pride that got bruised when his girlfriend dumped him".

Is "Tender" a noun, verb, or adjective?

"Tender" can be used as an adjective, a verb and a noun, depending on the context.

How do you pronounce "Tender"?

"Tender" is pronounced /ˈten-dər/ and divided into syllables as ten·der.