Tentative
tentative (adjective) - not final, definite, or certain, may be changed before the final version, a first step, preliminary
tentative figures
tentative recommendations
after a tentative start,...
tentative conclusion
a tentative remark
a tentative promise
gentle, tentative enquiries into Y
the tentative approach more commonly found in girls
a tentative explanation
tentative support
tentative support for the plan
tentative identification
make a tentative start
tentative discussions
limited and tentative conclusions
early tentative moves
tentative hypotheses
a tentative approach
a tentative start
Example sentences:
* "The government recently secured a tentative promise from militants that the mosque would not be harmed pending a ruling."
* Everyone wanted it to go well and after a tentative start, and it did.
* "That's why you always stick a tentative toe into the water before committing yourself, and why you tend to spend so long in shoe shops."
* It was hoped that with the combined findings of our two annual surveys we could make some tentative hypotheses about future trends.
* "Slightly tentative, his gesture warmed her eyes and elicited response."
* The report's tentative conclusion is that older staff may become less concerned about teaching as they develop other priorities.
* "We must walk a tightrope. Interpret a tentative remark too directly and you may sound rude but reproducing it too closely to the original may sound so tentative as to be confusing in the other language."
* "He was too tentative, too assertive, too submissive, too dominant."
* I have made gentle, tentative enquiries into the matter, not wishing to offend anyone.
* Any conclusions must be tentative, but the study indicates that there aren't really any problems at all.
* The report makes little more than tentative recommendations for the purchases that have to made next year.
* "The tentative explanation came to be accepted by the men that they were victims of what they had come to call "ageism."
* "In some tasks, the more direct way of speaking that is more common to boys will be advantageous, in others, the more tentative approach frequently found in girls will be more appropriate.
* "Tentative figures for 1994 pencil in further, but modest, growth."
* "They admit to having had tentative discussions with his agent several weeks ago but quickly lost interest in view of the agent's sky-high demands."
* The company made a tentative start with the publication of a weekly magazine.
* "The description of the jacket on the body also confirms its tentative identification as one of the two climbers who fell from the cliff."
* "Only limited and tentative conclusions may be drawn from the available evidence."
* "Throughout the period under discussion, successive government initiatives stimulated vigorous public and professional debate, since even the early tentative moves were treated with the suspicion that they presaged even more decisive government interference in what was a local or professional matter."
* "Alternating attempts at forthright assertion of authority and tentative gestures of conciliation exacerbated the situation."
* "As has already been stated, the tentative approach endorsed by the report above is not without its problems."
* "High romance brings with it, or seems to bring with it (I'm getting more and more tentative about cause and effect), an expansion of my role here at this organization."
* Sadly, this remains a tentative part of his argument.
