tension — OET

tension

noun

1 the tension of the rope:

tightness, tautness, tenseness, rigidity;

pull, traction, stress, strain, straining, stretching;

rare tensity.

▷antonyms slackness, looseness.

2 the tension was unbearable:

mental/emotional strain, stress, anxiety, anxiousness, pressure;

worry, apprehensiveness, apprehension, agitation, nerves, nervousness, jumpiness, edginess, restlessness;

suspense, uncertainty, anticipation, excitement;

informal butterflies (in one's stomach), collywobbles, jitteriness, twitchiness, the jitters, the willies, the heebie-jeebies, the shakes, the jumps, jim-jams, the yips;

British, informal the (screaming) abdabs/habdabs;

Australian, rhyming slang Joe Blakes.

▷antonyms relaxation.

3 the coup followed months of tension between the military and the government:

strained relations, strain, unease;

ill feeling, friction, antagonism, antipathy, hostility, enmity.

▷antonyms harmony.

tension Oxford Dictionary of English