suspense
pronunciation
How to pronounce suspense in British English:
UK [səˈspens]
How to pronounce suspense in American English:
US [səˈspens]
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- Noun:
- apprehension about what is going to happen
- an uncertain cognitive state
- excited anticipation of an approaching climax
Word Origin
- suspense (n.)
- c. 1400, "abeyance, temporary cessation; state of not being carried out" (of legal matters), from Anglo-French suspens (in en suspens "in abeyance," c. 1300), Old French sospense "delay, deferment (of judgement), act of suspending," from Latin suspensus, past participle of suspendere "to hang up; interrupt" (see suspend). Meaning "state of mental uncertainty with more or less anxiety" (mid-15c.) is from legal meaning, perhaps via notion of "awaiting an expected decision," or from "state of having the mind or thoughts suspended." As a genre of novels, stories, etc., attested from 1951.
Synonym
Example
- 1. Seldom has so much suspense built over a foregone conclusion .
- 2. Melville uses character , not action , to build suspense .
- 3. Halloween costume inspired by alfred hitchcock 's suspense film .
- 4. His convoluted tales have unexpected twists that maintain suspense for the reader .
- 5. The psychological suspense we experience in such stories is often integral to the story itself .