suspense
Americannoun
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a state or condition of mental uncertainty or excitement, as in awaiting a decision or outcome, usually accompanied by a degree of apprehension or anxiety.
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a state of mental indecision.
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undecided or doubtful condition, as of affairs.
For a few days matters hung in suspense.
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the state or condition of being suspended.
noun
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the condition of being insecure or uncertain
the matter of the succession remained in suspense for many years
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mental uncertainty; anxiety
their father's illness kept them in a state of suspense
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excitement felt at the approach of the climax
a play of terrifying suspense
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the condition of being suspended
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of suspense
1375–1425; late Middle English < Medieval Latin suspēnsum deferment, suspension, uncertainty, noun use of neuter of Latin suspēnsus hung up, doubtful, in suspense (past participle of suspendere to hang up, leave undecided), equivalent to sus- sus- + pēnsus ( pend-, stem of pendere (translation) to hang ( see pend) + -tus past participle suffix, with dt > s )
Explanation
Suspense is a feeling of excited waiting. If you have been waiting for weeks to get an answer to your proposal of marriage, you are being kept in suspense. The verb form, suspend, literally means to keep hanging. Suspense can be used in all sorts of ways. Movies that keep you on the edge of your seat in fear use suspense to draw you in. Suspense doesn’t always have to be scary, but it is usually agitating. If you are in suspense, you’re waiting on something that you really have to know.
Vocabulary lists containing suspense
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The festival kept the suspense going right up to showtime.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 7, 2026
In the wine-cellar scene where Devlin discovers uranium—a substance used to build an atomic bomb—in a bottle, Hitchcock relies entirely on Latin dance tunes playing upstairs rather than a suspense cue.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 4, 2026
But he will still be able to stay in the spotlight by creating suspense over whom he endorses as his successor in 2028.
From Barron's ● Aug. 28, 2026
It begs the question and adds to the suspense about these managers being products of a system at USG.
From BBC ● Aug. 17, 2026
Sherman’s clue order got the kids thinking as broadly as possible early in the show, but still preserved the suspense of penguin until the end.
From "The Tipping Point" by Malcolm Gladwell
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
