tense
1 Americanadjective
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tenser,
comparative
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tensest
superlative
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stretched tight, as a cord, fiber, etc.; drawn taut; rigid.
-
in a state of mental or nervous strain; high-strung; taut.
a tense person.
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characterized by a strain upon the nerves or feelings.
a tense moment.
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Phonetics. pronounced with relatively tense tongue muscles; narrow.
verb (used with or without object)
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tenses,
present (3rd person singular)
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tensed,
past participle, past
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tensing
present participle
noun
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tenses
plural
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a category of verbal inflection that serves chiefly to specify the time of the action or state expressed by the verb.
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a set of such categories or constructions in a particular language.
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the time, as past, present, or future, expressed by such a category.
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such categories or constructions, or their meanings collectively.
adjective
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stretched or stressed tightly; taut or rigid
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under mental or emotional strain
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producing mental or emotional strain
a tense day
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(of a speech sound) pronounced with considerable muscular effort and having relatively precise accuracy of articulation and considerable duration Compare lax
in English the vowel (iː) in ``beam'' is tense
verb
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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tenselessnessnoun
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tensenessnoun
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tenselessadjective
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untensingadjective
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tenselesslyadverb
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tenselyadverb
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Adjectives
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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tensesimple
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tensessimple
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have tensedperfect
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has tensedperfect
-
am tensingprogressive
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are tensingprogressive
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is tensingprogressive
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have been tensingperfect progressive
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has been tensingperfect progressive
Past
-
tensedsimple
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had tensedperfect
-
was tensingprogressive
-
were tensingprogressive
-
had been tensingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of tense1
First recorded in 1660–70; from Latin tēnsus, past participle of tendere “to stretch”; see tend 1
Origin of tense2
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English tens, from Middle French, from Latin tempus “time”
Explanation
When something's stretched tight, it's tense. A rope can be tense. So can a muscle. When a person's tense, they're anxious. When a situation is tense, you might say you could "cut the tension with a knife." When a muscle tenses up, it contracts suddenly–-a person can be said to tense up also. The opposite of tense is "relaxed." If you tense up during exams, it's probably best to learn some relaxation techniques. The brain works best when it's relaxed.
Vocabulary lists containing tense
A Long Walk to Water
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TEKS ELAR Academic Vocabulary List (5th-7th grades)
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Language and Grammar - Introductory
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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.
See Examples For:
The conversation seems to turn tense when Hanks speaks face-to-face with André and security personnel block the view.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 7, 2026
Coxon was among the former AI employees who spoke before the New York City Council, along with representatives of OpenAI, Anthropic, Meta and Google, with the exchanges often becoming tense.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 5, 2026
By the end of a set, your muscles should feel tense and fatigued.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 2, 2026
The key stories of an initially soporific and then dramatic and tense grand prix were:
From BBC ● Sep. 26, 2026
“I’m sorry. I thought about inviting you, but it’s all women and…” A tense silence passes between the two siblings.
From "South of Somewhere" by Kalena Miller
“When I’m frustrated and my eyes roll and my voice tenses, they feel that,” he said.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 23, 2026
Mr. Drout analyzes with clarity and humor Tolkien’s fascination with Finnish grammar, the distinctive ways he uses pronouns and the particular verb tenses he favors.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 12, 2025
Simon Cheng still visibly tenses when he describes his detention in China.
From New York Times ● May 27, 2024
As the ants mount their attack, the juvenile beetle tenses its muscles and expels a drop of bright red fluid.
From Science Magazine ● Mar. 12, 2024
Balancing the scales becomes more complicated as the tenses get more complicated.
From "Woe Is I" by Patricia T. O'Conner
If he is, EU leaders' summits could become tenser and more fractious - for a number of reasons.
From BBC ● Nov. 23, 2023
And this reaction evokes the challenge CNN faces as its news team barrels into a national election cycle that's already looking tenser and more fraught than 2020's or 2022's nailbiters.
From Salon ● Aug. 17, 2023
Things got tenser when Hyundai and LG Energy Solution announced a $4.3 billion electric battery plant in May at Hyundai’s new complex.
From Washington Times ● Jun. 27, 2023
But essentially, the post-election weeks have become a unique political grace period for lawmakers leaving Congress to try to forge bipartisan compromises that eluded them in tenser times.
From New York Times ● Dec. 16, 2022
“Four, three, two . “Oppenheimer, on whom had rested a very heavy burden, grew tenser as the last seconds ticked off,” remembered Farrell.
From "Bomb" by Steve Sheinkin
Norway's prime minister, Jonas Gahr Støre describes this as the tensest security situation the country has faced in decades.
From BBC ● Nov. 18, 2022
The tensest moment of the debate was when Bolsonaro called da Silva to stand next to him as he answered a question.
From Washington Times ● Oct. 29, 2022
Amid its tensest standoff with the West since the Cold War, Russia plans to give its nuclear weapons apparatus a practice run this weekend.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 18, 2022
The comments were among the most conciliatory that Moscow has made on the Ukraine crisis, which has escalated into one of the tensest East-West standoffs since the Cold War ended three decades ago.
From Reuters ● Jan. 28, 2022
He speaks in the tensest voice I’ve ever heard him use.
From "Before We Were Free" by Julia Alvarez
When her sister, Rowe, walked in that morning, she found Waldorf with her eyes wide and glazed over, her jaw tensed.
From Salon ● May 27, 2026
Even the way my neck tensed up — I couldn’t, move my neck after some of these days because you’re straining.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 1, 2026
In a flash, she springs into action, her muscles tensed and claws unsheathed.
From BBC ● Feb. 21, 2025
It was too expensive to keep the fibers tensed all the time, plus it interfered with the electricity—but for earthquake-length bursts of time, the building and its occupants would be safe.
From Slate ● Jan. 27, 2024
Koffi's muscles tensed as something formed in the nothingness.
From "Beasts of Prey" by Ayana Gray
After a difficult doctor’s appointment with her mother recently, Thompson says she felt her whole body tensing up.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 29, 2025
"Sometimes, I catch myself tensing up," Justin said.
From Salon ● Oct. 1, 2023
“I’m tensing up. There’s a lot of stuff I can do to protect myself.”
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 8, 2023
She sits in strained, watchful silence, the film registering every constriction of her throat and every tensing of her muscles as she listens to Laurence’s testimony.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 12, 2023
Then I saw the lion crouching, its leg muscles tensing.
From "The Titan's Curse" by Rick Riordan
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.
