tenderness

noun

ten·​der·​ness ˈten-dər-nəs 

: a tender quality or condition: such as

a

: gentleness and affection

His voice quavered with tenderness.

—Joyce Carol Oates

b

: the quality of being succulent and easily chewed

How you carve the meat enhances the tenderness and juiciness of each portion.

—Kemp Minifie

c

: sensitivity to touch or palpation

They found a small increased risk of reactions such as redness, swelling, and/or tenderness at the injection site …

—The Journal of the American Medical Association

Synonyms

• beneficence
• benevolence
• benignancy
• benignity
• compassionateness
• good-heartedness
• humaneness
• kindheartedness
• kindliness
• kindness
• softheartedness
• tenderheartedness
• warmheartedness

Examples of tenderness in a Sentence

volunteers at the shelter tended to all the animals in their care with great tenderness

Recent Examples on the Web

Symptoms include bruising, swelling, tenderness, and pain. —Laura Schober, Health, 16 Jan. 2025

There’s tenderness also in Bob’s visits to his trailblazing hero Guthrie (Scoot McNairy), by 1961 hospitalized with Huntington’s disease and nonverbal. —David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter, 10 Dec. 2024

This is tenderness in extremis, veering into absurdity, concluding in irony. —Karen Parker Lears, Harper's Magazine, 2 Dec. 2024

That swelling, tenderness and throbbing can downright ruin your day. —Julia Calderone, New York Times, 31 Dec. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined above