suspense

American  

[suh-spens] / səˈspɛns /

noun

1. 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.

2. a state of mental indecision.

3. undecided or doubtful condition, as of affairs.

   For a few days matters hung in suspense.

4. the state or condition of being suspended.

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suspense British  

/ səˈspɛns /

noun

1. the condition of being insecure or uncertain

   the matter of the succession remained in suspense for many years

2. mental uncertainty; anxiety

   their father's illness kept them in a state of suspense

3. excitement felt at the approach of the climax

   a play of terrifying suspense

4. the condition of being suspended

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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 )

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.

Example Sentences

Writer-director Ian Tuason, in his first feature, handles the second of these assignments with gusto: The movie generates a pleasing fog of suspense as it makes the audience pay attention to each new audio cue.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 12, 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

There was the suspense I felt when I heard the taut, sharp song of a yellow-black bee hovering nervously but patiently above a white rose.

From "Black Boy" by Richard Wright

Related Words

• anxiety
• apprehension
• confusion
• doubt
• insecurity
• tension
• thriller
• uncertainty