tender-mindedadj.n.
Having a tender mind; sensitive and idealistic (in W. James opposed to tough-minded adj.). Also absol. as n.
ΘΠ
the mind > emotion > aspects of emotion > capacity for emotion > sensitiveness or tenderness > [adjective]
softc1175
mild-hearteda1200
moll1386
tender-hearted1539
melch-hearted1552
tenderly1567
feeling1583
frail1590
tender1595
tender-minded1608
sensible1631
high-strung1653
emollid1656
tender-natured1656
sensitive1735
sentimental1749
soulful1837
weak-hearted1841
1608 W. Shakespeare King Lear xxiv. 31 To be tender minded Does not become a sword. View more context for this quotation
1907 W. James Pragmatism i. 12 You will..recognize the two types of mental make-up that I mean if I head the columns..The Tender-Minded: Rationalistic, Intellectualistic, Idealistic, Optimistic, Religious, Free-Willist, Monistic, Dogmatic.
1924 T. S. Eliot Homage to Dryden iii. 45 It is not cynicism, though it has a kind of toughness which may be confused with cynicism by the tender-minded.
1952 H. J. Eysenck in Mace & Vernon Current Trends Brit. Psychol. xvii. 210 Idealistic..tender-minded attitudes, such as those approving of church-going and religion, pacifism.
1965 Listener 28 Jan. 153/1 According to James, the tender-minded were those who could not endure the violation of a general law... Mathematics, he said, was the typical study of the tender-minded.
Derivatives
ˌtender-ˈmindedness n.
ΘΠ
the mind > emotion > aspects of emotion > capacity for emotion > sensitiveness or tenderness > [noun]
feeling?c1400
tendernessc1440
heart1557
nicety1583
toucha1586
apprehension1605
tender-heartedness1607
sensibility1609
sensibleness1613
acuteness1644
exquisiteness1650
susceptivity1722
sensation1744
soul1748
susceptibility1753
sensitivity1773
sensitiveness1788
affettuoso1791
sensibilité1817
soulfulness1842
mild-heartedness1849
susceptiveness1873
sensitivism1877
tender-mindedness1907
1907 W. James Pragmatism viii. 295 May not the claims of tender-mindedness go too far? May not the notion of a world already saved in toto anyhow, be too saccharine to stand?
1972 H. J. Eysenck Psychol. is about People v. 202 I did in fact discover some evidence in favour of the notion that tender-mindedness and tough-mindedness were correlated with personality as hypothesized.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1986; most recently modified version published online June 2018).
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adj.n.1608