English adjective: tense | |||
1. | tense in or of a state of physical or nervous tension | ||
Similar | antsy, aroused, cliff-hanging, edgy, electric, fidgety, fretful, high-strung, highly strung, isotonic, itchy, jittery, jumpy, nail-biting, nervous, nervy, overstrung, pumped, pumped up, pumped-up, restive, strained, suspenseful, suspensive, taut, unrelaxed, uptight, wired, wound up | ||
See also | agitated, uneasy | ||
Antonyms | relaxed | ||
2. | tense pronounced with relatively tense tongue muscles (e.g., the vowel sound in `beat') | ||
Similar | constricted | ||
Domain category | phonetics | ||
Antonyms | lax | ||
3. | tense taut or rigid; stretched tight | ||
Samples | Tense piano strings. | ||
Similar | overstrung, taut, tight | ||
See also | tight | ||
Antonyms | lax | ||
English noun: tense | |||
1. | tense (communication) a grammatical category of verbs used to express distinctions of time | ||
Broader (hypernym) | grammatical category, syntactic category | ||
Narrower (hyponym) | aorist, continuous tense, future, future tense, imperfect, imperfect tense, past, past tense, perfect, perfect tense, perfective, perfective tense, present, present tense, progressive, progressive tense | ||
English verb: tense | |||
1. | tense (contact) become stretched or tense or taut | ||
Samples | The bodybuilder's neck muscles tensed;. The rope strained when the weight was attached. | ||
Synonyms | strain | ||
Pattern of use | Something ----s | ||
Broader (hypernym) | tighten | ||
2. | tense (change) increase the tension on | ||
Samples | Alternately relax and tense your calf muscle. Tense the rope manually before tensing the spring. | ||
Pattern of use | Somebody ----s something. Something ----s something | ||
Broader (hypernym) | alter, change, modify | ||
3. | tense (body) become tense, nervous, or uneasy | ||
Samples | He tensed up when he saw his opponent enter the room. | ||
Synonyms | tense up | ||
Pattern of use | Something ----s. Somebody ----s. Somebody's (body part) ----s | ||
Broader (hypernym) | change state, turn | ||
Antonyms | relax, decompress, unwind, loosen up, slow down, unbend | ||
4. | tense (body) cause to be tense and uneasy or nervous or anxious | ||
Samples | He got a phone call from his lawyer that tensed him up. | ||
Synonyms | strain, tense up | ||
Pattern of use | Somebody ----s something. Something ----s somebody | ||
Broader (hypernym) | affect | ||
Narrower (hyponym) | extend, stretch | ||
Cause | tense, tense up | ||
Antonyms | make relaxed, unlax, unstrain, relax, unwind, loosen up | ||