tension
ten·sion/ˈtɛnʃən/noun, verb
tension is spelled T-E-N-S-I-O-N, 2 syllables: ten·sion. The wrong spelling people search most is tention: about 140 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 1 in 14 of all searches for the word. Tension is a noun meaning “The condition of being held in a state between two or more forces, which are acting in opposition to each…”. The plural of tension is tensions.
How many letters and syllables are in tension?
| Letters | 7: T-E-N-S-I-O-N |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2: ten·sion |
| In writing | 17 times per million words; the 4,934th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | 1; the most searched, tention, about 140 Bing searches a month (all of them) |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How do you spell tension?
Tension is spelled T-E-N-S-I-O-N. One wrong spelling is searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 1 in 14 of the searches for tension in either form.
Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026). Wrong spellings are taken from Wiktionary entries tagged "misspelling" and its obsolete or nonstandard forms, Wikipedia's Lists of common misspellings and the codespell dictionary, then measured. The proofreader's marks show the change that corrects each one.
How common is tension?
Tension appears 17 times per million words in written English, the 4,934th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce tension?
- US /ˈtɛnʃən/
- UK /ˈtɛnʃn̩/
Tension has 2 syllables, split ten·sion in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-tension.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with tension?
9 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as tension from its last stressed vowel (/ɛnʃən/):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of tension
- tensions plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- tensioning participle, present
- tensioned participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does tension mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The condition of being held in a state between two or more forces, which are acting in opposition to each other.
My tensions with Eric over his alleged past actions have been fully resolved.
- 2
A psychological state of being tense.
- 3
A feeling of nervousness, excitement, or fear that is created in a movie, book, etc.; suspense.
- 4
The state of an elastic object which is stretched in a way which increases its length.
- 5
A force transmitted through a rope, string, cable, or similar object (used with prepositions on, in, or of, e.g., "The tension in the cable is 1000 N", to convey that the same magnitude of force applies to objects attached to both ends).
- 6
Voltage.
verb
- 1
To place an object in tension, to pull or place strain on.
We tensioned the cable until it snapped.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Tension in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | tension , traction |
| German | Spannung |
| Portuguese | tensão , voltagem , tensionar |
| Spanish | tensión , tensionar |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does tension come from?
Borrowed from Middle French tension, from Latin tēnsiō.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).