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.
Directors Hammerling and Baghdadi don’t have a huge mystery on their hands, and the direction and choice of imagery and editing generate a sense of ethereal wonder and elusiveness, rather than suspense or high drama.
He’d had it with the suspense, the implications, the accusations, the strain.
From Literature
"I will break the suspense tomorrow," he said.
From Barron's
If “One of Us” is an entertaining family saga of privilege and comeuppance, it is also a consummate novel of suspense in which revelations detonate with lethal accuracy.
Led by Keke Palmer and Jack Whitehall and featuring a quirky cast of characters, Peacock’s horror-comedy mystery series dilutes some the suspense but it’s still a good time.
From Los Angeles Times
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.
