Standard Lemma guide

suspenseful

adj · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: S AH0 S P EH1 N S F AH0 L Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Inducing suspense.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • The television movie was so suspenseful that I leaped in the air and screamed when the doorbell rang.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

adjective satellite

Meaning 2

(of a situation) characterized by or causing suspense

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: cliff-hanging, suspensive, nail-biting

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

From suspense + -ful.

Across languages

Translations

9 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Chinese Mandarin: 有懸念的 /有悬念的 (yǒu xuánniàn de) — inducing suspense
  • Finnish: jännittävä — inducing suspense
  • Finnish: pelottava — inducing suspense
  • German: spannend — inducing suspense
  • Russian: напряжённый (naprjažónnyj) — inducing suspense
  • Russian: в напряжённом ожида́нии (v naprjažónnom ožidánii) — inducing suspense
  • Spanish: inquietante — inducing suspense
  • Tagalog: alip-ip — inducing suspense
  • Turkish: heyecanlı — inducing suspense
Real reading context

suspenseful in complete knowledge articles

Jo Darr Gya Woh Marr Gya Arts & music · Advanced · 1 uses