Meaning of "suspense" in the English dictionary

ETYMOLOGY OF THE WORD SUSPENSE

From Medieval Latin suspensum delay, from Latin suspendere to hang up.

Etymology is the study of the origin of words and their changes in structure and significance.

PRONUNCIATION OF SUSPENSE

suspense  [səˈspɛns]

GRAMMATICAL CATEGORY OF SUSPENSE

Suspense is a noun.

A noun is a type of word the meaning of which determines reality. Nouns provide the names for all things: people, objects, sensations, feelings, etc.

WHAT DOES SUSPENSE MEAN IN ENGLISH?

Suspense

Suspense is a feeling of pleasurable fascination and excitement mixed with apprehension, tension, and anxiety developed from an unpredictable, mysterious, and rousing source of entertainment. The term most often refers to an audience's perceptions in a dramatic work. Suspense is not exclusive to fiction. It may operate whenever there is a perceived suspended drama or a chain of cause is left in doubt, with tension being a primary emotion felt as part of the situation. In the kind of suspense described by film director Alfred Hitchcock, an audience experiences suspense when they expect something bad to happen and have a superior perspective on events in the drama's hierarchy of knowledge, yet they are powerless to intervene to prevent it from happening. Films having a lot of suspense belong in the thriller genre. In broader definition of suspense, this emotion arises when someone is aware of his lack of knowledge about the development of a meaningful event; thus, suspense is a combination of anticipation and uncertainty dealing with the obscurity of the future. In terms of narrative expectations, it may be contrasted with mystery or curiosity and surprise.

Definition of suspense in the English dictionary

The first definition of suspense in the dictionary is the condition of being insecure or uncertain. Other definition of suspense is mental uncertainty; anxiety. Suspense is also excitement felt at the approach of the climax.

SYNONYMS OF «SUSPENSE»

The following words have a similar or identical meaning as «suspense» and belong to the same grammatical category.

synonyms of suspense

anticipation · anxiety · apprehension · doubt · expectancy · expectation · insecurity · tension · uncertainty

TRANSLATION OF SUSPENSE

Find out the translation of suspense to 25 languages with our English multilingual translator.

The translations of suspense from English to other languages presented in this section have been obtained through automatic statistical translation; where the essential translation unit is the word «suspense» in English.

• Translator English - Chinese: 悬念
• Translator English - Spanish: suspense
• English: suspense
• Translator English - Hindi: रहस्य
• Translator English - Arabic: تَشْوِيق
• Translator English - Russian: неизвестность
• Translator English - Portuguese: suspense
• Translator English - Bengali: সাসপেন্স
• Translator English - French: suspense
• Translator English - Malay: Ketegangan
• Translator English - German: Spannung
• Translator English - Japanese: 不安
• Translator English - Korean: 긴장감
• Translator English - Javanese: Ketegangan
• Translator English - Vietnamese: sự hồi hộp
• Translator English - Tamil: சஸ்பென்ஸ்
• Translator English - Marathi: रहस्य
• Translator English - Turkish: belirsizlik
• Translator English - Italian: suspense
• Translator English - Polish: niepewność
• Translator English - Ukrainian: напружений інтерес
• Translator English - Romanian: suspans
• Translator English - Greek: αγωνία
• Translator English - Afrikaans: spanning
• Translator English - Swedish: spänning
• Translator English - Norwegian: spenning

10 QUOTES WITH «SUSPENSE»

Famous quotes and sentences with the word suspense.

1

Randy Alcorn

It's not just what Christian fiction lacks I appreciate - it's what it offers. The variety is vast: contemporary, historical, suspense, mysteries, adventure, young adult, romance, fantasy, science fiction.

2

Sergio Aragones

Suspense is very important. Even though this is humor and they're short stories, that theory of building suspense is still there.

3

Jennifer Armentrout

I'm a bit more of a suspense reader on the adult side, but my favorites were the ones I grew up reading.

4

Nicholson Baker

I keep thinking I'll enjoy suspense novels, and sometimes I do. I've read about 20 Dick Francis novels.

5

Moon Bloodgood

To me a great sci-fi movie has elements of horror and suspense.

6

Daniel J. Boorstin

The courage to imagine the otherwise is our greatest resource, adding color and suspense to all our life.

7

Danny Boyle

I mean suspense, twists are almost impossible these days.

8

Danny Boyle

I've never done a film before where every single person in the audience knows the ending. I mean suspense, twists are almost impossible these days. People are blogging your endings from their cinema seats.

9

Fawn M. Brodie

Show me a character whose life arouses my curiosity, and my flesh begins crawling with suspense.

10

Dan Brown

I often will write a scene from three different points of view to find out which has the most tension and which way I'm able to conceal the information I'm trying to conceal. And that is, at the end of the day, what writing suspense is all about.

10 ENGLISH BOOKS RELATING TO «SUSPENSE»

Discover the use of suspense in the following bibliographical selection. Books relating to suspense and brief extracts from same to provide context of its use in English literature.

The Suspense Thriller: Films in the Shadow of Alfred Hitchcock

This book is a comprehensive study of one of the most popular genres in the cinema.

Charles Derry

Fear: 13 Stories of Suspense and Horror: 13 Stories of ...

.In this collection of thirteen fabulously chilling stories from thirteen true masters of suspense, including five New York Times bestsellers and a number of Edgar Award nominees, all edited by none other than R. L. Stine, nothing is what ...

R.L. Stine, 2010

Film and Suspense

This is true especially about Shakespeare, Hitchcock & other top filmmakers of Hollywood in general. This book unveils the secret of the success of the masters of drama, as summarized below.

Altan Löker, 2005

Tales of Horror and Suspense

Eight ingenious, gripping tales by the master of suspense and creator of the American Gothic horror story: "The Fall of the House of Usher," "The Tell-Tale Heart," "William Wilson," "The Pit and the Pendulum," "The Cask of Amontillado," ...

Edgar Allan Poe, 2003

Plotting and Writing Suspense Fiction

Explains how to use the elements of suspense to create and develop an exciting story.

Patricia Highsmith, 2001

Elements of Fiction Writing - Conflict and Suspense

Describes how to create a more creative fictional story by adding conflict and suspense into the characters, settings, plot, and dialogue.

James Scott Bell, 2012

Suspense in the Formula Story

Dove states that the purpose of this book is "to develop a theoretical base for a critical approach to the interpretation of the formula story.

George N. Dove, 1989

Suspense: Conceptualizations, Theoretical Analyses, and ...

First, we are talking about suspense as an emotional response to narrative fictions. Inasmuch as we are focusing on fictions, we are not talking about suspense with respect to “real-life” experiences, although some comments about the relation ...

Peter Vorderer, Hans J rgen Wulff, Mike Friedrichsen, 2013

Elements of Fiction Writing - Conflict, Action & Suspense

Covers openings, setting, transition, dialogue, mood, character development, point of view, misdirection, time, pacing, and endings

William Noble, 1999

Mystery and Suspense in Creative Writing

The book examines the specific rules for creating intrigue and suspense, and confronts their universal features with selected literary texts.

Jacek Dąbała, 2012

10 NEWS ITEMS WHICH INCLUDE THE TERM «SUSPENSE»

Find out what the national and international press are talking about and how the term suspense is used in the context of the following news items.

Drishyam Review: Nail-Biting Suspense Will Keep You Riveted To …

What keeps the suspense going is the resolute behaviour of each member of the family and them adhering to their spoken word. How will the truth unfold is what ... «Focus News, Jul 15»

Suspenseful Films Narrow Perception to Focus on Story

Emerging research explains how a suspenseful movie can trigger physical and perceptual changes in our body. As an example, the movies of Alfred Hitchcock ... «PsychCentral.com, Jul 15»

Infidelity Is Steeped In Suspense In 'Among The Ten Thousand Things'

Talk about opening with a bang: at the beginning of Julia Pierpont's debut novel, Among the Ten Thousand Things, an 11-year-old girl named Kay Shanley ... «NPR, Jul 15»

Meet Sweet Suspense's New Member - Bryana Salaz! (Exclusive)

“I've been completely obsessed with Sweet Suspense ever since the first time I heard their music. This is beyond a dream come true and a chance of a lifetime! «Just Jared Jr., Jun 15»

My character adds suspense to 'ABCD 2′: Raghav Juyal

Dancer-turned-actor Raghav Juyal is excited about his role in the upcoming Varun Dhawan starrer “ABCD 2″ and says the suspense in the film moves around ... «The Indian Express, May 15»

Remembering Ruth Rendell, Master Of Smart And Socially Aware …

That's because Rendell, starting in 1986, began writing more nuanced, intricate novels of psychological suspense under the pen name Barbara Vine. «NPR, May 15»

Hanging gardens of London in suspense

A “garden bridge” over the Thames has been dismissed as a luvvies' folly by campaigners fighting to stop it being built. The crossing is supported by the actress ... «The Times, Apr 15»

Sweet Suspense Tells Us All About Upcoming Music in 2015

It seems like every day we're left in Sweet Suspense when it comes to the trio of ladies brought together on the final season of The X Factor US. We recently got ... «Fanlala, Dec 14»

Review: 'The Forgers,' a suspense novel by Bradford Morrow

This is an excellent suspense novel, a bit grisly in the opening pages — a forger is bludgeoned and his hands chopped off before he dies — but the narrative ... «Washington Post, Dec 14»

Book review: 'Deceived' delivers romance, suspense in the modern …

Author Kathi Oram Peterson revisits the romance suspense genre as she weaves together a tale of murder, escape and love. Rugged central Idaho is the setting ... «Deseret News, Dec 14»