cliffhanger
Americannoun
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a melodramatic or adventure serial in which each installment ends in suspense in order to interest the reader or viewer in the next installment.
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a single installment in such a serial.
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a suspenseful movie, novel, etc.
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the suspenseful ending itself.
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a situation or contest of which the outcome is suspensefully uncertain up to the very last moment.
The game was a cliffhanger, but our team finally won.
noun
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a situation of imminent disaster usually occurring at the end of each episode of a serialized film
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the serialized film itself
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a situation that is dramatic or uncertain
Other Word Forms
- cliffhanging adjective
Etymology
Origin of cliffhanger
An Americanism dating back to 1935–40
Explanation
A cliffhanger is a plot device in a book, movie, or TV show that leaves the audience in suspense at the end of a scene or episode. If your favorite show ends its season with a cliffhanger, you'll have to wait months to find out what happens next. The key to a good cliffhanger is a character in some precarious position — this keeps the plot exciting, and it also ensures that the audience will return to see how dilemmas are resolved. In the case of a book, a cliffhanger keeps you turning the pages. The use of cliffhangers goes back to Homer's "Odyssey," though the word itself dates from 1937, from serial movies that would sometimes literally leave characters dangling from a cliff at the end.
Vocabulary lists containing cliffhanger
Awkward
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Anything But Typical
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Early Departures
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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.
A solid, by-the-numbers, character-driven yarn, “Detour” ends on a cliffhanger because it’s the start of a series.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 9, 2026
The police body cam footage of her arrest serves as the “Mormon Wives” premiere’s cliffhanger.
From Salon • Mar. 21, 2026
The cliffhanger ending is jaw-droppingly intense, but there is also an emotional fallout for Scarpetta and her family.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 11, 2026
One red flag: It ends on a cliffhanger, and Season 2 has not been green-lit yet, despite the show shooting to the top of Netflix’s charts.
From MarketWatch • Feb. 27, 2026
And each night Scheherazade weaves the tales together so that they always end on a cliffhanger.
From "Everything Sad Is Untrue" by Daniel Nayeri
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.
