All 3 Uses of
tentative
in
Another Country
- He permitted it now, tentatively, with one hand on his sister's neck.†
p. 138.4 *tentatively = in an unsure or hesitant manner
- Yves always seemed, a moment before the act, tentative and tremulous; not like a girl—like a boy: and this strangely innocent waiting, this virile helplessness, always engendered in Eric a positive storm of tenderness.†
p. 225.1
- He wore a small mustache over narrow lips; and he smiled a tentative smile which did not quite mask his patient wonder as to who they were.†
p. 353.6
Definitions:
-
(1)
(tentative as in: said it tentatively) done in a careful or unsure way (indicating a lack of confidence in exactly what will happen)
-
(2)
(tentative as in: a tentative plan) subject to change (likely or possibly going to change)