One meaning of provisional is to put something in place that is not permanent and is only intended to last while the details of the permanent solution are worked out. The example of a provisional government is a good one. It is a functioning government, but only is intended to be temporary until the formal government is installed.

Tentative also has a meaning of putting something into place temporarily. In college, I may sit down with my counselor and set up a tentative class schedule for the purpose of blocking out times and finding classes that have compatible schedules. The tentative schedule will work as my real schedule because it covers classes I need or want in time slots that fit with each other. The only problem is there may not be enough room in some of the classes. My tentative schedule will be replaced by an official schedule once it is determined whether there is room in the classes or not.

From the example of a TENTATIVE CLASS SCHEDULE could it also be referred to as a PROVISIONAL CLASS SCHEDULE? Or, would it make more sense to call it an AMBIGUOUS CLASS SCHEDULE?

Does this help?

* probationary: under terms not final or fully worked out or agreed upon; “probationary employees”; “a provisional government”; “just a tentative schedule”

* doubtful: unsettled in mind or opinion; “drew a few tentative conclusions”

wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn

* When Reregistration and Suffix Registration are applied for, the title ” Tentative” is attached and included.

ederec.jeita.or.jp/E_Folder/E_ede_prguide.htm

* 1. Not fully worked out, concluded, or agreed on; provisional: tentative plans. 2.Uncertain; hesitant.

missbunbun.tripod.com/id7.html

…apart from the use of ‘provisional’ in the definition for Tentative, I would still have to agree that A. is your correct answer. I usually test such questions through the use of word replacements. So..

“His worrisome answer was tentative” becomes

“His worrisome answer was probationary”

even though linguistically this word doesnt feel comfortable to me here, it is still much better than

“His worrisome answer was ambiguous” which carries a different meaning all together.

and for completeness’ sake the definitions of ambiguous are:

# equivocal: open to two or more interpretations; or of uncertain nature or significance; or (often) intended to mislead; “an equivocal statement”; “the polling had a complex and equivocal (or ambiguous) message for potential female candidates”; “the officer’s equivocal behavior increased the victim’s uneasiness”; “popularity is an equivocal crown”; “an equivocal response to an embarrassing question”

# having more than one possible meaning; “ambiguous words”; “frustrated by ambiguous instructions, the parents were unable to assemble the toy”

# having no intrinsic or objective meaning; not organized in conventional patterns; “an ambiguous situation with no frame of reference”; “ambiguous inkblots”

wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn

# A large word, phrase, sentence, or other communication is called ambiguous if it can be reasonably interpreted in more than one way. The simplest case is a single word with more than one sense: The word “bank”, for example, can mean “financial institution”, “edge of a river”, or other things. Sometimes this is not a serious problem because a word that is ambiguous in isolation is often clear in context. …

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ambiguous

# not stable; changing

library.thinkquest.org/2647/geometry/glossary.htm

# an insurance term is ambiguous is a reasonably layperson would infer two different meanings to a word or term from the context and the language used. Pacific Indem. Co. v. Interstate Fire & Cas. Co. , 302 Md. 383, 389 (1985).

www.millerandzois.com/iglossary.html

If this answer helped you, please vote me as your best answer!

Thanks and good luck.

Tentative program planning is based on proposals which are subject to change. For example, a play is scheduled tentatively for January 12th. That means it is set up to occur that day, but circumstances which the play coordinators are aware of may change and cause the date to change, or even for the play to be cancelled entirely. Or a television station plans a program on global warming, but it is listed as tentative because the chairman of the program may not be able to make it. A government policy is tentatively enacted to benefit senior citizens, but the details may change, it might be vetoed, or something else may happen which negates the plan. If planners know something is tentative, there is almost always a contingency plan which will go into effect if the main program cannot be implemented. When some complication is anticipated, the plan is tentative.

The condition which the tentative act depends upon (awaits) is the resolution of uncertainty. the uncertainty remains, the act is provisional or temporary. The caution, hesitancy, or uncertainty is removed when certainty is established. The actor expects that to occur. Because a resolution and a change are expected, this act is not ambiguous.

RE:
definition of tentative…?
Yes, I know I could look this up in the dictionary, in fact I have. The problem I'm having is that a practiceASVAB question asks me which of the following words mostly nearly means Tentative.

A. Provisional

B. Ambiguous

C. Wholehearted

D. Uneccessary

It's obviously not C or D and in…

But I can see where “Ambiguous” could get your attention too.

The difference is the element of time implied in the words “tentative” and “provisional”, both of which could be defined as “for the time being”.

Remember that people who compose exams are people too, and sometimes they write a question that isn’t very good. If there is any lesson to be learned here, it is that.

tentative- mean the same thing

Ex: Teacher says my grade is tentative (not yet determine) till I turn in my paper. turning in the paper is the condition needing to be met (provisional).