tender-minded

[ ten-der-mahyn-did ]

adjective

1. compassionate and idealistic.

Word History and Origins

Origin of tender-minded¹

First recorded in 1595–1605

Example Sentences

My god, Weiss wants to start a fake university, so tender-minded conservatives can get an "education" without ever having to grapple with an uncomfortable idea.

From Salon

His weakness seems to me to be due to just the kind of uncertainty which might be expected of a man who suddenly finds himself in a strange environment, especially a conscientious, tender-minded, thin-skinned man to whom the behavior of the crowd is alarming because it is alien.

From Salon

Take away "conscientious" and "tender-minded" and Lippmann could be writing of the man who occasionally appears in the Oval Office in our own time, with the lights of "The People's House" ready to be switched off by a trigger finger.

From Salon

“He wanted to craft a philosophy that was absolutely honest to the twisted, often contradictory, facts of life, but also to the desire that many of us have to transcend them. In his words, he wanted to provide a way of thinking between the ‘tough-minded’ scientist and the ‘tender-minded’ idealist, preserving what is valuable about both sides.”

From New York Times

Whether it’s critics seeking springboards for Op-ed-like ruminations or political writers driving an agenda, these writers are not offering subtle viewings to discern ideological patterns surreptitiously woven into a film’s fabric but playing kindergarten teacher to naïve and tender-minded viewers in ostensible need of doctrinal protection.

From The New Yorker