suspense
Meaning
a feeling of excitement or anxiety when you are waiting for something uncertain to happen.
the quality in a work of fiction that makes the reader or audience uncertain or tense about the outcome.
Structure
Usage
the suspense was unbearable as we waited for the final results.
the film masterfully builds suspense until the very last scene.
he kept us in suspense for days before revealing his decision.
Etymology
the word suspense originates from the latin verb 'suspendere', meaning to hang up or to cause to hang. this is a compound of the prefix 'sub-' (under) and 'pendere' (to hang). the literal sense of being left hanging in a state of uncertainty evolved into the old french 'suspens', describing a state of being suspended or in abeyance. entering english in the late middle ages, it retained this core notion of mental suspension, crystallizing into its modern abstract meaning of anxious uncertainty about an impending event or outcome, particularly in narrative contexts.
Analysis
sus- (from latin 'sub-', meaning under, below); -pense (from latin 'pensus', past participle of 'pendere', meaning to hang, weigh).