Suspense Meaning
/səˈspɛns/Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounThe condition of being suspended; cessation for a time.
nounThe pleasurable emotion of anticipation and excitement regarding the outcome or climax of a book, film etc.
Sentence Examples
Don't keep me in suspense!
The suspense is killing me!
The two part episode's cliffhanger had me in suspense.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The thrilling movie ended with a cliffhanger, leaving the audience in great ____.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The audience was kept in great ____ until the very end of the movie when the mystery was finally solved today.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English suspense, suspence, from Anglo-Norman suspens (as in en suspens) and Old French suspens, from Latin suspēnsus.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"For thee the Fates, severely kind, ordain / A cool suspense from pleasure and from pain; / Thy life a long dead calm of fix'd repose; / No pulse that riots, and no blood that glows."
— 1717, Alexander Pope, Eloisa to Abelard, lines 249–252; republished in The Complete Poetical Works of Alexander Pope, Boston, New York: Houghton, Mifflin and Company, 1902, page 113:
"Ten days the prophet in suspense remain'd."
— 1636 (date written), John Denham, “The Destruction of Troy, an Essay upon the Second Book of Virgils Æneis”, in Poems and Translations, with The Sophy, London: […] [John Macock] for H[enry] Herringman […], published 1668, →OCLC:
"I believe that, to the young, suspense is the most intolerable suffering. Active misery always brings with it its own power of endurance."
— 1837, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], Ethel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides. […], volume I, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, pages 265–266:
"[The great light of day] suspens in heav'n."
— 1667, John Milton, “Book VII”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC:
"Expectation held his look suspense."
— 1667, John Milton, “Book II”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC:
Explore More B2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The thrilling movie ended with a cliffhanger, leaving the audience in great ____.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The audience was kept in great ____ until the very end of the movie when the mystery was finally solved today.