tender-handed

tender-handed adjective: gentle; Having a light touch and compassionate actions.

Adjective

tender-handed (comparative more tender-handed, superlative most tender-handed)

Gentle; Having a light touch and compassionate actions.
- Earlston must have remembered once dining in the Manse of Maxton at a Communion time; for, as his tender-handed wife took her place beside his chair to feed her helpless husband, he always lifted up his palsied hand and always said to himself, to her, and above all, to God, the 131st Psalm.1894, Alexander Whyte, Samuel Rutherford - and some of his correspondents
- A momentary coolness from the dark Flows inward on the tender-handed breeze.1949, Roy Earl Teele, Through a Glass Darkly: A Study of English Translations of Chinese Poetry, page 105
With hands that are very sensitive and easily hurt.
- Resinous splinters or rolled paper tapers were kept on the fireboard for candle lighters; also perhaps tongs for the tender-handed pipe lighter who could not handle a live coal in his hands.1962, Roscoe Carlyle Buley, The Old Northwest: Pioneer Period, 1815-1840 - Volume 1, page 233
- This game of tennis without rackets is not for the tender-handed.2003, Derba Wise, Sandra Forrest, Great Big Book of Children's Games, →ISBN, page 213

tender-handed (comparative more tender-handed, superlative most tender-handed)

Gently; With a light touch.
- You know the old rhyme, — " ' Tender-handed touch the nettle, And it stings you for your pains ; Grasp it like a man of mettle, And it soft as silk remains.' So, little friend, difficulties vanish before resolution and action."1866, Mrs. Warren (Eliza), How I Managed My House on £200 (one Thousand Dollars) a Year
- It cannot be treated tender-handed or it will laugh at the puny fetters that seek to bind it, but it may be mastered at far less cost than the loss which it will produce if let alone, and its proper treatment for the purpose of self-preservation will at the same time make it into an ocean highway...1892, T Graham Gribble, Engineering Magazine - Volume 3, page 746

The English gallants who came to the colony for adventure or to escape punishment were very tender-handed.2014, Alice Morse Earle, Curious Punishments of Bygone Days, →ISBN:
Kinspeople, tender-handed, Found on the foreshore's brim A corpse the harsh sea stranded — And so far well with him.1906, The Dublin Review - Volume 138, page 68:
But though Paley has grasped this idea, he has grasped it tender-handed.2012, Ernest Barker, Traditions of Civility: Eight Essays, →ISBN, page 239:

From tender + handed.

What does tender-handed mean?: Tender-handed means gentle; Having a light touch and compassionate actions.
How do you use tender-handed in a sentence?: The English gallants who came to the colony for adventure or to escape punishment were very tender-handed.
What part of speech is tender-handed?: Tender-handed can be an adjective or an adverb.

Adapted from Wiktionary: tender-handed (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

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