tentative
/ˈtentətɪv/ (bre, ipa) · /ˈtentətɪv/ (ame, ipa) · /ˈten-tə-tiv/ (ame, mw)
tentative — adjective
- tentativepositive
- more tentativecomparative
- most tentativesuperlative
1. describing plans, decisions, or actions that are not yet fixed or definite, and
describing plans, decisions, or actions that are not yet fixed or definite, and may be changed if new information comes to light or if the person involved feels unsure about what to do.
Karim and Naoko signed a tentative agreement to share office space starting next month.
tentative agreement (plan/deal not yet final)
EVA Air flight BR-858 to Singapore is still tentative, so please check the airline app before you leave.
be + tentative (predicative use)
Heloísa gave a tentative nod, not quite ready to commit to the plan.
The engineering team put forward a tentative proposal to deliver the bridge design in two stages.
Quinn took a tentative step forward, testing whether the ice would hold his weight.
- provisional
more specific to arrangements that are officially in place until a final version is confirmed; 'tentative' implies more uncertainty about whether a final version will ever be settled
- hesitant
describes a person's inner doubt or reluctance rather than the status of a plan; 'tentative' can describe either the person's manner or the plan itself
- preliminary
focuses on being early or first in a sequence, not on uncertainty; a preliminary report may be quite firm as a starting point
文法句型
tentative + noun
be + tentative
remain + tentative
用法筆記
This sense covers two related but distinguishable uses: (1) describing plans, agreements, or arrangements that are not yet final (e.g. a tentative booking), and (2) describing actions or behaviour done in a hesitant, cautious way (e.g. a tentative smile). The first use is more common in formal or business contexts; the second appears in descriptions of personal interaction.
常見錯誤
tentative — noun
1. something — such as a plan, proposal, or arrangement — that is not yet certain o
something — such as a plan, proposal, or arrangement — that is not yet certain or definite and is expected to be discussed further or changed.
The hospital board treated the expansion plan as a tentative, pending the new census data.
countable noun: treat as a tentative
The city council's draft budget for 2026 was only a tentative, subject to approval at the March meeting.
The editor at Routledge marked Chapter 7 as a tentative, pending the author's data verification.
The venture capital fund viewed the start-up offer as a tentative, not a binding acquisition deal.
- final version
a final version is complete and not open to further change
文法句型
a tentative
treat as a tentative
consider a tentative
用法筆記
This noun form is rare and mostly appears in formal or technical writing (e.g. committee minutes, academic publishing, legal drafting). In everyday speech, the adjective 'tentative' is far more common. The noun is typically preceded by 'a' and used with verbs like 'treat as', 'consider', or 'regard as'.