- 1(of an arrangement, agreement, etc.) not definite or certain because you may want to change it later We made a tentative arrangement to meet on Friday. tentative conclusions
- 2not behaving or done with confidence synonym hesitant a tentative greeting Her English is correct but tentative. I'm taking the first tentative steps toward fitness.
adverb They have tentatively agreed to our proposal. She smiled tentatively.
noun [uncountable]See tentative in the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary
Check pronunciation: tentative