MEANING
Anxious or excited uncertainty while awaiting an important outcome.
Use it for
waiting under uncertainty; narrative tensionControl how much readers know and how long the result is withheld.
Words that belong together
- keep someone in suspense
- unbearable suspense
- build suspense
On the page
The radio silence kept the rescuers in suspense.
Her story builds suspense by showing the damaged rope before the climb.
He could not bear the suspense of another unopened letter.
Nearby words
Related words
Word forms
- Base
- suspense
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Usage notes
Primary category: fear. Can be pleasurable in stories or painful in real danger. Unlike surprise, suspense depends on anticipation rather than an unexpected revelation. Usually uncountable in this sense.
Practice this word in a sentenceYour margin notes
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