Akademik

Tight, rigid, or strained; characterized by anxiety and psychological strain. [L. tensus, pp. of tendo, to stretch]

tense 'ten(t)s adj, tens·er; tens·est

1) stretched tight: made taut or rigid <the skeletal musculature involuntarily becomes \tense (H. G. Armstrong)>

2) feeling or showing nervous tension <was \tense and irritable>

tense·ness n

tense vb, tensed; tens·ing vt to make tense <\tense a muscle> vi to become tense