tension

Meanings

1. 1nouncountable or uncountable

   A nervous or anxious feeling, or a lack of trust or friendliness between people or groups.

   Grammar: Uncountable for feeling; often plural (tensions) for conflicts between groups.

   Patterns

   • tension between people
   • tension over something

   You could feel the tension in the room.

   Tensions between the two countries rose again.

   She tried to ease the tension with a joke.

2. 2noununcountabletechnical

   The state of being stretched tight, or the pulling force in a rope or similar thing.

   Grammar: Used with in or on: tension in the rope.

   Patterns

   • tension in something

   Check the tension in the guitar string.

   The tension on the cable was too high.

3. 3noununcountable

   Excitement or suspense in a story, film or game that keeps the audience waiting.

   Grammar: Often with build: build tension.

   Patterns

   • build tension

   The director builds tension with slow music.

   The final minutes of the match were full of tension.

Word forms

Common combinations

ease the tension

A cup of tea eased the tension.

racial tension

The city has seen rising racial tension.

tension headache

Stress gave her a tension headache.

build tension

The writer builds tension slowly.

tension between

There is tension between the departments.

Synonyms and how they differ

stress

Stress is mental or physical pressure inside a person, not conflict between people.

strain

Strain suggests something close to breaking from too much pressure.

suspense

Suspense is only the anxious waiting for what happens next.

friction

Friction is open disagreement, usually more active than tension.

Opposites

Word family

tense adjective

stretched tight or nervous

tense verb

become or make tight

tensely adverb

in a nervous way

Commonly confused: tension or tension vs. tense?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “tension”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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