Crossword clues for tentative
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Tentative \Ten*ta"tive\, a. [L. tentare to try: cf. F. tentatif.
See Tempt.]
Of or pertaining to a trial or trials; essaying;
experimental. ``A slow, tentative manner.''
--Carlyle. --
Ten*ta"tive*ly, adv.
Tentative \Ten*ta"tive\, n. [Cf. F. tentative.]
An essay; a trial; an experiment.
--Berkley.
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
1580s, from Medieval Latin tentativus "trying, testing," from Latin tentatus, past participle of tentare "to feel, try." Related: Tentatively; tentativeness.
Wiktionary
a. 1 Of or pertaining to a trial or trials; essaying; experimental. 2 uncertain; subject to future change. n. A trial; an experiment.
WordNet
adj. under terms not final or fully worked out or agreed upon; "probationary employees"; "a provisional government"; "just a tentative schedule" [syn: probationary, provisional, provisionary]
unsettled in mind or opinion; "drew a few tentative conclusions" [syn: doubtful]
Wikipedia
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Usage examples of "tentative".
Carter seemed tentative, unwilling actually to see his slaves free, or uninterested in beginning the manumission until it was foolproof.
She made tentative contact with the decking and felt no immediate outrush of air from her suit.
It is you, curious prattlers, who behold the first mysteries, touches, trembling yet chaste, glances that are already insatiable, who begin to trace on the heart, as a tentative sketch, the ineffaceable image of cherished beauty!
They found themselves organizing, propagandizing, podium- pounding, persuading, touring, negotiating, posing for publicity photos, submitting to interviews, squinting in the limelight as they tried a tentative, but growingly sophisticated, buck-and-wing upon the public stage.
In his mind, his quick message to Seria was rapidly ramifying into a particularly touchy and tentative love letter.
The outline of the jewel began to re-emerge, tentative, making an effort at reformulating itself.
Having made one or two tentative remarks to the nearest miner, and receiving only short, gruff replies, the traveller resigned himself to uncongenial silence, staring moodily out of the window at the fading landscape.
From the screenless window a fly came looping in, made tentative passes at the inkwell on the desk pad, then settled down on the desktop and rubbed its feelers contentedly.
Robyn pointed, and the two things shambled toward the suddenly tentative ogres.
Spoken to directly, the Stath were still courteous, but their manner had something tentative about it.
They talked briefly and quietly, then nodded and rose together, striding out without looking around or acknowledging a tentative hail from Rhauligan.
Early in their relationship there is a wonderfully constructed walking-talking scene, tentative, guarded, full of subtextual tension.
Iris Rose asked, lifting tentative hands toward the cloak Alyce had started to unfasten at the throat.
Naturally, in progressive studies like those of Egyptology and Assyriology, a good many theories and conclusions must be tentative and provisional only.
Later in the afternoon, RFK and Barnett seemed to work out a tentative agreement for a decoy plan: Meredith would register quietly at Jackson on Monday while Barnett and Johnson were at Oxford standing heroically at the entrance to the university.