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
- suspenseful adjective
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 ( pend ) + -tus past participle suffix, with dt > s )
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.
Silly but not sappy, “Project Hail Mary” doesn’t gin up much suspense over whether anything bad will happen.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 18, 2026
While suspense about best picture doesn't happen every year, what is truly unusual this time is the amount of uncertainty surrounding the acting prizes.
From Barron's • Mar. 12, 2026
EFL chief executive Trevor Birch said the play-offs have become a "highlight of the domestic football calendar, capturing the drama, suspense and jeopardy that make the EFL so special".
From BBC • Mar. 5, 2026
Is it why markets are rocking, why oil shipments are cut back from the Strait of Hormuz, why the world hangs on tenterhooks of suspense over what happens next?
From Slate • Mar. 4, 2026
An increase in plankton in the water drawn from the boreholes around the ship—a sure sign of approaching spring—didn’t ward off the suspense that all the men now felt.
From "Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World" by Jennifer Armstrong
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.
