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tentative - 20 thesaurus results
| Main Entry: | tentative |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | conditional, experimental |
| Synonyms: | acting, conjectural, contingent, dependent, iffy*, indefinite, makeshift, on trial, provisional, speculative, subject to change, temporary, test, trial, undecided, unsettled, ad interim, not final, not settled, open for consideration, probationary, provisionary, provisory, unconfirmed |
| Antonyms: | certain, decisive, definite, final, sure |
* = informal/non-formal usage
| Main Entry: | tentative |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | indefinite, uncertain |
| Synonyms: | backward, cautious, diffident, disinclined, doubtful, halting, hesitant, irresolute, reluctant, timid, undecided, unsure, vacillating, wobbly, faltering, vacillatory |
| Antonyms: | certain, conclusive, definite, sure |
| Main Entry: | cautious |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | careful, guarded |
| Synonyms: | alert, all ears, cagey, calculating, chary, circumspect, considerate, discreet, forethoughtful, gingerly, hedging one's bets, heedful, judicious, keeping on one's toes, leery, on the lookout, playing it cool, playing safe, politic, provident, prudent, pussyfoot*, safe, shrewd, taking it easy, taking it slow, tentative, thinking twice, vigilant, walking on eggs, wary, watchful, watching one's step, watching out, with one's eyes peeled |
| Antonyms: | careless, hasty, heedless, imprudent, incautious, rash, thoughtless, uncareful, unguarded, unobservant |
* = informal/non-formal usage
| Main Entry: | conditional |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | dependent |
| Synonyms: | contingent, depending on, fortuitous, guarded, iffy*, incidental, inconclusive, limited, modified, obscure, provisional, qualified, relative, restricted, restrictive, subject to, tentative, uncertain, codicillary, granted on certain terms, not absolute, provisory, reliant, relying on, with grain of salt, with reservations, with strings attached |
| Antonyms: | independent, unconditional, unlimited, unqualified, unrestricted |
* = informal/non-formal usage
| Main Entry: | conjectural |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | speculative |
| Synonyms: | academic, assumed, doubtful, guessing, hypothetical, putative, reputed, supposed, suspect, tentative, theoretical, uncertain, unresolved, figured, guesstimated, on a hunch, on a long shot, suppositional, suppositious, suppositive, surmised, surmising |
| Antonyms: | certain, factual, real, truthful, proven |
| Main Entry: | experimental |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | exploratory |
| Synonyms: | beginning, empirical, laboratory, momentary, pilot, preliminary, preparatory, primary, provisional, speculative, temporary, tentative, test, trial, developmental, experiential, first stage, on approval, probationary, trial-and-error, unconcluded, under probation, unproved |
| Antonyms: | tested, tried, proven |
| Main Entry: | halting |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | hesitant |
| Synonyms: | awkward, clumsy, doubtful, gauche, imperfect, indecisive, inept, irresolute, labored, lumbering, maladroit, slow, tentative, uncertain, vacillating, wavering, wooden*, bumbling, claudicant, faltering, limping, stammering, stumbling, stuttering, unhandy, vacillatory |
| Antonyms: | flowing, smooth, unhesitating |
* = informal/non-formal usage
| Main Entry: | hesitant |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | uncertain, waiting |
| Synonyms: | afraid, averse, backward, delaying, diffident, disinclined, doubtful, doubting, half-hearted, halting, hesitating, indecisive, irresolute, lazy, loath, reluctant, shy, skeptical, slow, tentative, timid, unpredictable, unsure, unwilling, vacillating, wavering, dawdling, faltering, hanging back, lacking confidence, uneager |
| Antonyms: | certain, definite, resolute, sure, unwavering, unhesitant |
| Main Entry: | indecisive |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | uncertain, indefinite |
| Synonyms: | changeable, doubtful, halting, hesitant, hesitating, inconclusive, indeterminate, irresolute, on the fence*, tentative, unclear, undecided, undetermined, uneventful, unsettled, unstable, vacillating, wavering, wishy-washy*, astraddle, faltering, hemming and hawing, hot and cold, of two minds, waffling, weak-kneed |
| Antonyms: | certain, decisive, definite, deliberate, determined, sure |
* = informal/non-formal usage
| Main Entry: | irresolute |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | indecisive |
| Synonyms: | changing, doubtful, doubting, fearful, fickle, halfhearted*, halting, hesitant, hesitating, infirm, shaky, tentative, timid, uncertain, undecided, undetermined, unsettled, unstable, unsteady, vacillating, wavering, weak, wishy-washy*, wobbly, faltering, fluctuating, hot-and-cold, on-the-fence, waffling, weak-kneed, wimpy |
| Antonyms: | definite, determined, obstinate, resolute, stubborn, unyielding, willful |
* = informal/non-formal usage
| Main Entry: | noncommittal |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | unwilling to decide |
| Synonyms: | ambiguous, careful, cautious, circumspect, discreet, equivocal, evasive, guarded, hush-hush*, indefinite, judicious, middle-of-the-road*, neutral, politic, reserved, restrained, tactful, tentative, vague, wary, buttoned up, clammed up, constrained, even-steven, incommunicable, middle-ground, on-the-fence, temporizing, unrevealing, zipped |
| Antonyms: | decisive, definite, willing, committal, judgemental |
* = informal/non-formal usage
| Main Entry: | on the fence |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | undecided |
| Synonyms: | ambivalent, borderline, debatable, divided, hesitant, iffy*, impartial, indecisive, irresolute, neutral, open, tentative, torn, uncertain, unclear, uncommitted, undetermined, unsure, up in the air, wavering, wishy-washy*, betwixt and between, blowing hot and cold, hemming and hawing, in the middle, not definite, not sure, of two minds, running hot and cold, waffling |
* = informal/non-formal usage
| Main Entry: | subject |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | at the mercy of; answerable |
| Synonyms: | accountable, apt, at one's feet, bound by, captive, collateral, conditional, contingent, controlled, dependent, directed, disposed, enslaved, exposed, governed, in danger of, inferior, liable, likely, obedient, open, prone, provisional, ruled, satellite, secondary, sensitive, servile, slavish, sub*, subaltern, subjugated, submissive, subordinate, subservient, substract, susceptible, tentative, tributary, under, vulnerable |
| Antonyms: | master |
* = informal/non-formal usage
| Main Entry: | substitute |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | alternative |
| Synonyms: | acting, additional, alternate, another, artificial, backup, counterfeit, dummy, ersatz*, experimental, false, imitation, makeshift, mock, near, other, provisional, proxy, pseudo*, replacement, representative, reserve, second, sham, simulated, spurious, stopgap*, supplemental, supplementary, surrogate, symbolic, temporary, tentative, vicarious, substitutive, supposititious, vicarial |
* = informal/non-formal usage
| Main Entry: | theoretical |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | hypothetical |
| Synonyms: | abstract, academic, analytical, assumed, conjectural, contingent, general, ideal, imaginative, impractical, intellectual, logical, metaphysical, on paper*, pedantic, philosophical, pure, quixotic, speculative, tentative, transcendent, transcendental, unearthly, unsubstantiated, vague, as a premise, codified, formalistic, formularized, idealized, ideational, ideological, in the abstract, in theory, instanced, notional, postulated, presumed, problematical, suppositional, unproved |
| Notes: | empirical describes results determined by experiment and observed behavior or facts; theoretical describes results that are based on guesswork or hypothesis - and pragmatic is contrasted with theoretical on the grounds that the former proceeds from what is demonstrably practical, the latter from conjecture |
| Antonyms: | certain, definite, factual, real, proven |
* = informal/non-formal usage
| Main Entry: | trial |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | experimental |
| Synonyms: | balloon, pilot, preliminary, provisional, tentative, test, testing, exploratory, probationary |
| Antonyms: | definite, known, proven |
| Main Entry: | undecided |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | not sure, not definite |
| Synonyms: | ambivalent, borderline, debatable, doubtful, dubious, equivocal, hesitant, iffy*, indecisive, indefinite, irresolute, moot, on the fence*, open, pending, tentative, torn, uncertain, unclear, uncommitted, undetermined, unfinished, unsettled, unsure, up in the air, vague, wavering, wishy-washy*, betwixt and between, blowing hot and cold, dithering, hemming and hawing, in the middle, of two minds, pendent, running hot and cold, waffling |
| Antonyms: | certain, decided, definite, determined, settled, sure, undoubted |
* = informal/non-formal usage
| Main Entry: | unfinished |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | not completed |
| Synonyms: | amateurish, bare, crude, cut short, defective, deficient, dilettante, faulty, formless, fragmentary, half-baked*, immature, imperfect, incomplete, lacking, natural, plain, raw, rough, shapeless, sketchy, tentative, unadorned, undeveloped, undone, unpolished, unrefined, wanting, dabbling, found wanting, half-done, in the making, in the rough, not done, roughhewn, unaccomplished, unassembled, uncompleted, unconcluded, under construction, unexecuted, unfashioned, unfulfilled, unperfected |
| Antonyms: | completed, finished, polished, refined, whole |
* = informal/non-formal usage
| Main Entry: | weak-minded |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | indecisive |
| Synonyms: | changeable, hesitant, hesitating, indeterminate, irresolute, on the fence*, spineless, tentative, uncertain, undecided, undetermined, wavering, wishy-washy*, astraddle, hemming and hawing, waffling, weak-kneed, without guts, yellow-bellied |
* = informal/non-formal usage
| Main Entry: | subject to change |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | uncertain |
| Synonyms: | conditional, proposed, tentative, not carved in stone, not firmed up |
Roget's 21st Century Thesaurus, Third Edition
Copyright © 2009 by the Philip Lief Group.
Cite This Source
Copyright © 2009 by the Philip Lief Group.
Cite This Source
Copyright © 2009, Dictionary.com, LLC. All rights reserved.
