tenderness

Iago devotes himself to wronged Othello, and says, _Let him command whatever bloody business_, and in me it shall be an act, not of cruelty, but _of tenderness, to obey him_; not of malice to other, but of _tenderness_ for him.

Notes to Shakespeare, Volume III: The Tragedies Samuel Johnson 1746

I very well understand what you call tenderness, madam; but in some situations, pity -- pity -- is the greatest insult.

The Works of Charles and Mary Lamb — Volume 4 Poems and Plays Charles Lamb 1804

I never, my dear girl, knew happiness till now; my tenderness is absolutely a species of idolatry; you cannot think what a slave this lovely girl has made me.

The History of Emily Montague 1769

Tess and her mother, the Ungers, and other friends heard him speak to the college graduates about the word tenderness as it is enacted in Chekhov’s novella Ward No. 6.

Raymond Carver Carol Sklenicka 2009

But I feel a certain tenderness towards all of the characters, perhaps especially the most flawed ones.

A Conversation with Geraldine Brooks about People of the Book 2010

What such cuts lack in tenderness they tend to make up for with a stronger, beefier flavour.

Independence and chicken-fried steak | Homesick Texan Homesick Texan 2007

MRS. TRICKWELL: How full of tenderness is all Sir John says. — [aside] I shall deserve the five hundred pounds, Sir

The Beau Defeated: or, The Lucky Younger Brother 1999

A word of tenderness, even a parting caress when she was getting on the train, would have held her back.

Gone with the Wind Margaret Mitchell 1996

A word of tenderness, even a parting caress when she was getting on the train, would have held her back.

Gone with the Wind Margaret Mitchell 1996

A word of tenderness, even a parting caress when she was getting on the train, would have held her back.

Gone with the Wind Margaret Mitchell 1996