Meaning & use

suspense

noun·Everyday

A feeling of excited or anxious uncertainty about what will happen, especially while waiting for an outcome.

See it in a sentence

The final chapter kept readers in suspense until the very last page.

We waited in suspense as the judges tallied the competition scores.

A note on using this word

Suspense is closely tied to storytelling and often describes the deliberate withholding of information, as in a "suspense novel" or "suspense film."

Words with a similar meaning

tensionanticipationuncertainty

Choose a synonym to suit the sentence. Meanings can overlap without being identical.

Words with an opposite meaning

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