suspense

Definitions

sus- (a form of sub-, 'from below / underneath') + pense (from Latin pendere/pensus, 'to hang') = 'hung from below.' Picture something dangling in the air, not yet settled. When the outcome of a story or decision is left 'hanging,' you're held in suspense — your mind hangs there too, waiting for it to drop.

Why It Means This

Suspense and suspend share the same image: something hanging unsupported. In suspend, the object physically hangs; in suspense, it's the resolution that hangs — left up in the air. That feeling of being unable to relax until the dangling thing finally settles is exactly the tension we call suspense.

Common Collocations

• 1.build suspense制造悬念
• 2.keep someone in suspense吊某人胃口
• 3.suspense thriller悬疑惊悚片
• 4.a sense of suspense悬念感

Example Sentences

• 1.

  The director keeps the audience in suspense until the final scene.

• 2.

  We waited in suspense for the doctor to tell us the results.

• 3.

  The novel builds suspense slowly, page after page.