[ap-uh-sahy-uh-pee-sis] 
[-seez] . Rhetoric. | a sudden breaking off in the midst of a sentence, as if from inability or unwillingness to proceed. |
| ap·o·si·o·pe·sis (āp'ə-sī'ə-pē'sĭs) n. pl. ap·o·si·o·pe·ses (-sēz) A sudden breaking off of a thought in the middle of a sentence, as though the speaker were unwilling or unable to continue. [Late Latin aposiōpēsis, from Greek, from aposiōpān, to become silent : apo-, intensive pref.; see apo- + siōpān, to be silent (from siōpē, silence).] ap'o·si'o·pet'ic (-pět'ĭk) adj. |
aposiopesis
(Greek: "becoming silent"), a speaker's deliberate failure to complete a sentence. Aposiopesis usually indicates speechless rage or exasperation, as in "Why, you . . .," and sometimes implies vague threats as in, "Why, I'll . . . ." The listener is expected to complete the sentence in his mind. In ancient Greek rhetoric, the aposiopesis occasionally takes the form of a pause before a change of subject or a digression.
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əˌsaɪ