How to Use suspense in a Sentence

suspense

noun
  • The movie is a suspense thriller.
  • I can't bear the suspense.
  • The suspense builds as the story progresses.
  • Alfred Hitchcock was a master of suspense.
  • Having the same handful of shows win again and again and again and again sucks all the suspense out of the evening(*).
    Alan Sepinwall, Rolling Stone, 16 Jan. 2024
  • And the buildup to the creation of the first atomic bomb just about ticks with cosmic suspense.
    Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 19 July 2023
  • One of the all-time great suspense films with a pay-off like no other.
    Ben Flanagan | Bflanagan@al.com, al, 28 Aug. 2022
  • The films are based on the 1973 young-adult suspense novel by Lois Duncan.
    Etan Vlessing, The Hollywood Reporter, 6 Feb. 2023
  • Much of the film’s suspense comes from the sheer pleasure of discovery.
    Peter Debruge, Variety, 3 Sep. 2023
  • But this approach is at odds with the false suspense the rest of the show attempts to concoct.
    Emma Stefansky, The Atlantic, 12 Sep. 2024
  • To break the suspense: Eliade was an anti-Semite and a full member of the Iron Guard.
    Dan Piepenbring, Harper's Magazine, 15 Nov. 2023
  • Trump and his people are all too happy to build the suspense.
    David Jackson, USA TODAY, 28 June 2024
  • Bills that remain in the committee’s suspense file are dead for the year.
    Laurel Rosenhall, Los Angeles Times, 31 Aug. 2023
  • Prince Harry and Meghan Markle sure do know how to build suspense.
    Louisa Ballhaus, Robb Report, 5 Apr. 2023
  • The race was still too close to call, meaning the suspense will continue.
    Katie Wadington, USA TODAY, 15 Nov. 2022
  • Many begged for spoilers, saying that the suspense was killing them.
    Amanda Taub, New York Times, 8 Dec. 2023
  • Yes, for me the Adam Driver character was one of the great points of suspense in the first season of that show.
    The New Yorker, 15 Feb. 2022
  • After a moment of suspense, the door fell shut, and Raff relaxed.
    Jonathan Franzen, The New Yorker, 25 Dec. 2023
  • There’s also a bit of suspense as people wonder who will light the Olympic torch.
    Chris Morris, Fortune, 26 July 2024
  • Do the opposite of what Donald Trump's going to do, which is to keep us all in suspense till the last minute.
    NBC News, 3 July 2022
  • Though violence seems inevitable, the question of whether the crops will survive the first frost is a source of equal suspense.
    Alex Barasch, The New Yorker, 28 Jan. 2024
  • That only served to build the suspense in extra innings.
    Kirk Kenney, San Diego Union-Tribune, 31 May 2024
  • The murder mystery was full of suspense with a bit of comedy.
    Arkansas Online, 4 Dec. 2022
  • The Atkins legislation, known as Senate Bill 519, was sent to what’s called the suspense file last month.
    Jeff McDonald, San Diego Union-Tribune, 2 Sep. 2023
  • Just being incognito, the suspense, that's a whole 'nother thing.
    Dana Rose Falcone, Peoplemag, 10 Nov. 2022
  • If no response is received within 30 days, the voter is placed on the suspense list.
    Dallas News, 31 Mar. 2023
  • Many categories feel like a lock, but there still is an air of suspense about a couple of the top contests.
    Julie Hinds, Detroit Free Press, 8 Mar. 2024
  • And its greatest source of suspense is how much the guests, who rotate every few episodes, will tip at the end of each charter.
    Meredith Blakestaff Writer, Los Angeles Times, 19 Dec. 2022
  • But the suspense is half-hearted, and the picture’s vaporous approach to incident remains.
    Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 8 Nov. 2024
  • The suspense and uncertainty over the outcome of the 2024 presidential election is not just a product of close polls in a divided country.
    Craig Gilbert, Journal Sentinel, 5 Nov. 2024

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'suspense.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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