1
as in worried
feeling or showing uncomfortable feelings of uncertainty
was tense about the upcoming bar exam
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in uneasy
marked by or causing agitation or uncomfortable feelings
a tense relationship existed between the two teachers
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3
as in tight
stretched with little or no give
a tense rope
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Examples Sentences
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Recent Examples of tense
Elizabeth Stanton, Fox News, 22 Dec. 2024
Johnson emerged from a tense two-hour GOP conference meeting in the Capitol basement with less than eight hours to go until the deadline to announce the developments and vow there would be no shutdown.
—Aris Folley, The Hill, 20 Dec. 2024
Paul Sullivan, Chicago Tribune, 4 Nov. 2024
Progressive Muscle Relaxation Progressive muscle relaxation is a technique that involves tensing and relaxing all the muscles in your body, group by group, in a specific order.
—Anna Giorgi, Verywell Health, 25 Oct. 2024
See all Example Sentences for tense 
Adjective
Game show fans were quick to react to the tense situation on social media.
—Elizabeth Stanton, Fox News, 22 Dec. 2024
Johnson emerged from a tense two-hour GOP conference meeting in the Capitol basement with less than eight hours to go until the deadline to announce the developments and vow there would be no shutdown.
—Aris Folley, The Hill, 20 Dec. 2024
Verb
Franklin’s in-game coaching decisions and curious clock management at the end of the first half helped seal the Nittany Lions’ reputation as a team that tenses up in big games.
—Paul Sullivan, Chicago Tribune, 4 Nov. 2024
Progressive Muscle Relaxation Progressive muscle relaxation is a technique that involves tensing and relaxing all the muscles in your body, group by group, in a specific order.
—Anna Giorgi, Verywell Health, 25 Oct. 2024
See all Example Sentences for tense
Recent Examples of Synonyms for tense
Adjective
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Rather than being concerned that Musk has too much influence over the president-elect, Jayapal should be worried about who’s making decisions for the current president.Chris Roemer, Baltimore Sun, 26 Dec. 2024
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Gift recipients are much less worried about when the gift arrives.Rebecca Walker Reczek, Cory Haltman, CBS News, 25 Dec. 2024
Adjective
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But the series also revealed an uneasy disconnect between the British public and the media.Katie Marie Davies, The Christian Science Monitor, 19 Dec. 2024
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Sinner and Alcaraz have had some superb matches – the China Open was one ATP tour final for the ages – but there's an uneasy chasm to jump between the end of the Big Four Era and the wave of Next Gen talent.Tim Ellis, Forbes, 18 Dec. 2024
Adjective
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The whole package is great fun, and everything wraps up in a blessedly tight 95 minutes (man, movies are way too long these days).Ars Technica, Ars Technica, 23 Dec. 2024
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Dart has good ball velocity and has shown flashes of throwing into very tight windows.Steve Bradshaw, Forbes, 22 Dec. 2024
Adjective
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That could be especially helpful for passengers who are nervous about being on a ship.Nathan Diller, USA TODAY, 24 Dec. 2024
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Others may be nervous about overusing sanctions, as Steven Mnuchin, the treasury secretary in Trump’s first administration, was.Henry Farrell, Foreign Affairs, 23 Dec. 2024
Adjective
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One of the more disturbing results was from the dinner party at the Brooklyn apartment of my ProPublica colleague.Topher Sanders, ProPublica, 9 Dec. 2024
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Duchamp spent the last twenty years of his life working in secret on a three-dimensional tableau vivant of a naked, headless female body in a realistic landscape, a strangely disturbing image that is both a summary of his meta-retinal art and a total departure from it.Calvin Tomkins, The New Yorker, 9 Dec. 2024
Adjective
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In the lab, a piece of aerogel material a couple millimeters thick is held taut inside a metal frame.Ari Daniel, NPR, 9 Dec. 2024
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Sharp’s hushed but taut narration played out in real time, like an announcer calling a tennis game.Kevin West, Travel + Leisure, 24 Nov. 2024
Adjective
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His words speak to an anxious, ongoing need not just to entertain, but to distract, to overact, to keep the audience unmoored, all in an effort to hide deep and intractable feelings of inadequacy.Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 24 Dec. 2024
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The horror sequel centers on pop star and drug addict Skye Riley (Naomi Scott), who's anxious about a comeback tour and visits her dealer for pills.Brian Truitt, USA TODAY, 24 Dec. 2024
Adjective
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And Robert Zemeckis' 2009 take featuring Jim Carrey is noteworthy for a few reasons: Not only are the ghosts downright terrifying, but the animation style is also unsettling, and may scare you for all the wrong reasons.Huntley Woods, EW.com, 19 Dec. 2024
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In addition to this unsettling experience, Robbins shared with Newsweek a moment of unexpected kindness during her return flight.Dan Perry, Newsweek, 18 Dec. 2024
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Cite this Entry
“Tense.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/tense. Accessed 30 Dec. 2024.
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