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Recent Examples of tensed
While biting, their jaw muscles tensed to squeeze venom into their meal.
—
Laura Baisas, Popular Science, 23 Oct. 2025
My skin felt dirty, and my stomach tensed with fear.
—Patrick Ryan, USA Today, 14 Oct. 2025
Fanning’s tensed, squirrelly performance comes to life in these spots, with Polly’s waning trust and fear of betrayal cluing into a wounded self-loathing that becomes the film’s best lasting impression.
—J. Kim Murphy, Variety, 11 Oct. 2025
Every muscle in my body was tensed, waiting for something, anything to happen.
—Sarah Chamberlain, PEOPLE, 10 Oct. 2025
Muscles get tensed and strained.
—Miami Herald, 30 Sep. 2025
The muffled, percussive sounds of the firing range could be heard through the walls, and my body tensed with every pop.
—Rachel Monroe, New Yorker, 16 Sep. 2025
Laura Baisas, Popular Science, 23 Oct. 2025
My skin felt dirty, and my stomach tensed with fear.
—Patrick Ryan, USA Today, 14 Oct. 2025
Fanning’s tensed, squirrelly performance comes to life in these spots, with Polly’s waning trust and fear of betrayal cluing into a wounded self-loathing that becomes the film’s best lasting impression.
—J. Kim Murphy, Variety, 11 Oct. 2025
Every muscle in my body was tensed, waiting for something, anything to happen.
—Sarah Chamberlain, PEOPLE, 10 Oct. 2025
Muscles get tensed and strained.
—Miami Herald, 30 Sep. 2025
The muffled, percussive sounds of the firing range could be heard through the walls, and my body tensed with every pop.
—Rachel Monroe, New Yorker, 16 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for tensed
tightened
Verb
-
For years, 58-year-old Abel Linares watched his health slip away as kidney disease tightened its grip.—
Ronnie Li,
USA Today,
6 Nov. 2025
-
His frequent warnings that the city would fall into ruin if Mamdani, 34, were elected mayor may have tightened the race slightly.—
Gabe Whisnant,
MSNBC Newsweek,
5 Nov. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Tensed.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/tensed. Accessed 18 Nov. 2025.
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