Advertisement

Advertisement

View synonyms for cliffhanger

cliffhanger

or cliff-hang·er

[ klif-hang-er ]

noun

  1. a melodramatic or adventure serial in which each installment ends in suspense in order to interest the reader or viewer in the next installment.
  2. a single installment in such a serial.
  3. a suspenseful movie, novel, etc.
  4. the suspenseful ending itself.
  5. a situation or contest of which the outcome is suspensefully uncertain up to the very last moment:

    The game was a cliffhanger, but our team finally won.



cliffhanger

/ ˈklɪfˌhæŋə /

noun

    1. a situation of imminent disaster usually occurring at the end of each episode of a serialized film
    2. the serialized film itself
  1. a situation that is dramatic or uncertain


Discover More

Derived Forms

  • ˈcliffˌhanging, adjective

Discover More

Word History and Origins

Origin of cliffhanger1

An Americanism dating back to 1935–40

Discover More

Example Sentences

Why not finish hard on a cliffhanger and the next one just jump straight back in?

We hit the ground running after an end-of-season cliffhanger.

What a monumental cliffhanger to get us excited for the last episode.

And, maddeningly, “A” ended on a cliffhanger, just as a potentially explosive confrontation was about to go down.

The best thing to happen to it was the aborting of the third season, which effectively ended the series in a cliffhanger.

Advertisement

Related Words

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement


cliff-hangcliff-hanging