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• n  the physical condition of being stretched or strained
  he could feel the tenseness of her body
• n  (psychology) a state of mental or emotional strain or suspense

• On a nouveau Alcatraz called Terminal Island, Warden Hennessey (Joan Allen, merging her purse-lipped Pat Nixon impersonation with the imperious tenseness of Dick Nixon in late .
• Despite the fact that the majority of the crowds enjoyed Nixon's blunt attacks, newsmen noted a tenseness in the Vice President, apparently brought on by a combination of fatigue .
• And Hall, with her flawless American accent, is equally persuasive at inhabiting, not just miming, the stammering tenseness of the traditional Allen heroine.

• tension
• tensity
• tautness
• stress

News & Articles

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• Bakersfield runs away from Idaho — Roadrunners bring physicality, athleticism to Idaho’s first conference loss of the ...
  He called it the thousand-yard stare — the tenseness, the back-of-the-mind thinking about the 10-game winning streak that replaced the loose demeanor the conference-leading Vandals usually come into a game with. Now, undefeated in conference ...
  Feb. 14, 2014 - The Argonaut

Quotes

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• Joe Torre in USA Today
  It wouldn't be fun. In fact, I made a comment when we were down 1-0 in the first,Yankees manager Joe Torre said. "I felt a little tenseness in there. I said, 'Guys, what's the worst thing that can happen? We lose 162 games, big deal. We...
• Pat McCrory in Charlotte Observer
  You tended to look at the ones with long, white T-shirts, because they were in the uniform of a gang, and you can't help but have some tenseness,said McCrory, a Republican. "I stated not only what I saw Wednesday night but what I see when...