Synonyms for tense
tɛnstense

Princeton's WordNetRate these synonyms:2.8 / 9 votes

1. tenseadjective

   a grammatical category of verbs used to express distinctions of time

   Antonyms:
   limp, loose-jointed, laid-back, relaxed, loose, sagging, lax, tensionless, floppy, drooping, unstrained, mellow, droopy, slack, degage, loosen up, unstrain, slow down, relax, unwind, make relaxed, decompress, unlax, unbend

2. tenseadjective

   in or of a state of physical or nervous tension

   Antonyms:
   loose-jointed, slack, drooping, lax, droopy, degage, mellow, limp, sagging, floppy, loose, relaxed, tensionless, laid-back, unstrained, unwind, decompress, relax, unlax, loosen up, unbend, unstrain, slow down, make relaxed

3. tenseadjective

   pronounced with relatively tense tongue muscles (e.g., the vowel sound in `beat')

   Antonyms:
   droopy, loose-jointed, sagging, lax, degage, loose, slack, unstrained, limp, floppy, mellow, laid-back, relaxed, drooping, tensionless, relax, unlax, unwind, unbend, unstrain, loosen up, make relaxed, slow down, decompress

4. tenseverb

   taut or rigid; stretched tight

   "tense piano strings"

   Antonyms:
   slack, lax, droopy, limp, loose-jointed, unstrained, relaxed, drooping, sagging, laid-back, degage, mellow, loose, floppy, tensionless, unwind, make relaxed, relax, decompress, unstrain, slow down, unbend, unlax, loosen up

5. strain, tenseverb

   become stretched or tense or taut

   "the bodybuilder's neck muscles tensed;" "the rope strained when the weight was attached"

   Synonyms:
   sieve, separate out, strain, filter out, tense up, reach, puree, try, sift, filter, extend, distort, strive, filtrate, deform, stress

   Antonyms:
   limp, loose-jointed, relaxed, mellow, drooping, droopy, unstrained, floppy, degage, laid-back, lax, slack, sagging, loose, tensionless, loosen up, unwind, relax, unbend, make relaxed, unstrain, slow down, unlax, decompress

6. tenseverb

   increase the tension on

   "alternately relax and tense your calf muscle"; "tense the rope manually before tensing the spring"

   Synonyms:
   strain, tense up

   Antonyms:
   lax, limp, tensionless, floppy, relaxed, mellow, slack, loose, droopy, unstrained, laid-back, loose-jointed, sagging, degage, drooping, slow down, relax, loosen up, unlax, unwind, decompress, unstrain, make relaxed, unbend

7. tense, tense upverb

   become tense, nervous, or uneasy

   "He tensed up when he saw his opponent enter the room"

   Synonyms:
   strain, tense up

   Antonyms:
   sagging, lax, floppy, degage, loose-jointed, laid-back, limp, mellow, unstrained, slack, relaxed, drooping, tensionless, droopy, loose, unwind, slow down, make relaxed, relax, decompress, loosen up, unlax, unbend, unstrain

8. tense, strain, tense upverb

   cause to be tense and uneasy or nervous or anxious

   "he got a phone call from his lawyer that tensed him up"

   Synonyms:
   sieve, separate out, reach, strain, filter out, tense up, stress, puree, try, sift, filter, extend, distort, strive, filtrate, deform

   Antonyms:
   relaxed, sagging, lax, droopy, limp, loose, floppy, laid-back, drooping, mellow, tensionless, slack, unstrained, degage, loose-jointed, unbend, unstrain, slow down, unlax, unwind, decompress, relax, make relaxed, loosen up

Matched Categories

1. • Change
   • Phonetics

Editors ContributionRate these synonyms:0.0 / 0 votes

1. nervous

   Submitted by anonymous on September 30, 2020  

2. sitting on thorns

   Submitted by anonymous on January 5, 2021  

Dictionary of English SynonymesRate these synonyms:5.0 / 1 vote

1. tenseadjective

   Synonyms:
   tight, stretched, strained, TAUGHT, rigid, not loose, not lax

PPDB, the paraphrase databaseRate these paraphrases:0.0 / 0 votes

1. List of paraphrases for "tense":

   strained, restive, tension, taut, nervous, jittery, high-strung, tight, voltage, fraught, uptight, intense, intensive, volatile, stretched

How to pronounce tense?

How to say tense in sign language?

Words popularity by usage frequency

How to use tense in a sentence?

1. Rita Trivedi:

   I'm more than anxious, I'm more than worried - it's 'can't sleep' kind of anxious, i'm just so tense thinking about these things and how to manage.

2. Friedrich Nietzsche:

   Existence really is an imperfect tense that never becomes a present.

3. Stephane Ekolo:

   Markets are trading north courtesy of the Biden-Xi virtual summit which seems to have somewhat defused U.S.-China tensions, market participants view such a summit as a positive effort to stabilise a tense relationship, fuelling risk-on mode appetite.

4. Michael Cassidy:

   Things are very tense there right now.

5. Rafael Grossi:

   All of the safety systems of the six reactors at the plant were not affected at all and there has been no release of radioactive material, however, as you can imagine, the operator and the regulator have been telling us that the situation naturally continues to be extremely tense and challenging.