The term tenuous is used to designate those elements or phenomena considered soft, delicate or weak. The term tenue is a qualifying adjective and can be used in both a positive and a negative sense depending on each particular situation as well as the phenomenon to which it refers.
We understand by tenuous to everything that is delicate, weak, without strength. Thus, this adjective is very commonly used on specific occasions when it is possible to refer to such phenomena. One of the most common spaces to use this term is that of photography, when one speaks of light or faint colors that are reflected in the photograph as something delicate, which does not impact the eye but rather relaxes it. Dim light is normal at certain times of the day, especially when the sun is not at its highest point of altitude and therefore there is more darkness than light. Subdued colors will be light colors that don't have as much power or vigor as others. Understood in this sense, the term dim can also be used in painting or other branches of art where lighting is important.
Another common use that is given to the word tenuous is one that is little or nothing related to the previous one and that has to do with different phenomena. For example, it can be said that a person has a weak response to a certain act or particular situation, which is meaning that this response is not strong but rather weak. This is perhaps when the term gets a somewhat negative meaning by assuming that people allow themselves to be mistreated or do not defend themselves.
In addition, dim can also be many weather phenomena such as rain, haze, smog, dew, etc.
