Tenor is the highest range of the adult male singing voice, or is a person who sings at that octave. Pavarotti is an example of a tenor as he has a high singing voice. Tenor is the general course or mood of something. An example of tenor is the general atmosphere of tension at a tense meeting. 1  general course or tendency: the even tenor of my life. 2  general meaning; drift; purport.  in a metaphor, that term or concept that is described in a figurative way by the vehicle.