n. 1
Quality, state or condition of being tender.
He picked her up in his arms with great tenderness.
n. 2
A tendency to express warm, compassionate feelings.
When the lovers were together, their cold indifference gave way to love and tenderness.
n. 3
A concern for the feelings or welfare of others.
Everybody needs a little tenderness sometimes.

Forms

Plural: tendernesses → affections, gentlenesses, compassions, fondnesses…

Choose the right word

Tenderness, Kindness, Benevolence or Charity?

Kindness and tenderness are personal; benevolence and charity are general. Tenderness especially goes out toward the young, feeble, and needy, or even to the dead.

J. C. Fernald, English Synonyms and Antonyms (1914)

Example sentences

compassion Compassion is entirely absent from his character.
affection She has a great affection for her little brothers.
fondness He has a morbid fondness for murder mysteries.
gentleness He had a gentleness that was attractive to women.

Popularity over time

Word	1850 → 2019	Trend
tenderness		rising
compassion		rising
affection		rising
fondness		rising
gentleness		rising

Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.

By length

4 letters: love¹, pity²
5 letters: heart¹, mercy²
6 letters: philia, lenity
7 letters: feeling², rawness²
8 letters: humanity⁴, weakness², kindness², sympathy³, delicacy⁴, fondness², clemency³, soreness, softness², leniency³, mildness, lenience, warmness
9 letters: sentiment³, affection³
10 letters: compassion³, attachment³, gentleness³
12 letters: touchingness
13 letters: sensitiveness⁴
15 letters: warmheartedness

The small number after each word is its number of syllables (pity² = 2 syllables).

In other languages

Français: tendresse
Italiano: tenerezza
Español: ternura
Deutsch: Zärtlichkeit