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creative tension

British

noun

a situation where disagreement or discord ultimately gives rise to better ideas or outcomes

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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.

There were reports of creative tension between Zendaya and Levinson.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 9, 2026

To do things that are really differentiated, you need to have creative tension and creative conflict.

From The Verge • May 3, 2022

Another creative tension related to that is the value of saving and supporting legacy local news media, and the importance of startups and innovation and new activity.

From Seattle Times • Mar. 18, 2022

In fact, the creative tension that arises from the confluence of both competition and cooperation is itself a driving force of evolution.

From Salon • May 30, 2021

And the eternal vision, thus momentarily attained, and hereafter gathered together from the deep cisterns of memory, liberates us, when we are under its influence, from that contemplative or creative tension whereby we reached it.

From The Complex Vision by Powys, John Cowper

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023