See cliffhanger in All languages combined, or Wiktionary
Download JSON data for cliffhanger meaning in English (6.9kB)
{
"antonyms": [
{
"word": "anticlimax"
}
],
"derived": [
{
"_dis1": "0 0",
"word": "cliffhang"
}
],
"etymology_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "cliff",
"3": "hanger"
},
"expansion": "cliff + hanger",
"name": "compound"
}
],
"etymology_text": "From cliff + hanger, evoking the image of someone left hanging from a cliff, thereby having an uncertain fate.\nThe term \"cliffhanger\" is considered to have originated with the serialised version of Thomas Hardy's \"A Pair of Blue Eyes\", published in Tinsley's Magazine in the 1870s, in which the character Henry Knight is left hanging off of a cliff. It was inspired by a real life story from his wife Emma's childhood, when she had to rescue one of her school friends from a similar position.",
"forms": [
{
"form": "cliffhangers",
"tags": [
"plural"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {},
"expansion": "cliffhanger (plural cliffhangers)",
"name": "en-noun"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "noun",
"related": [
{
"_dis1": "0 0",
"word": "cliffhanging"
}
],
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
{
"kind": "topical",
"langcode": "en",
"name": "Narratology",
"orig": "en:Narratology",
"parents": [
"Drama",
"Literature",
"Theater",
"Culture",
"Entertainment",
"Writing",
"Art",
"Society",
"Human behaviour",
"Language",
"All topics",
"Human",
"Communication",
"Fundamental"
],
"source": "w"
},
{
"_dis": "55 45",
"kind": "topical",
"langcode": "en",
"name": "Fiction",
"orig": "en:Fiction",
"parents": [
"Artistic works",
"Art",
"Culture",
"Society",
"All topics",
"Fundamental"
],
"source": "w+disamb"
}
],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "2007 July 2, Hilary Hylton, “Filming Texas in a Good Light”, in Time, archived from the original on 2009-03-15",
"text": "Back in the early 80s, the hit series Dallas kept the nation guessing with its season-ending cliffhanger \"Who Shot J.R.?\"",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"An ending or stopping point calculated to leave a story unresolved, in order to create suspense."
],
"id": "en-cliffhanger-en-noun-3g7ybO63",
"links": [
[
"narratology",
"narratology"
],
[
"end",
"end"
],
[
"stop",
"stop"
],
[
"story",
"story"
],
[
"suspense",
"suspense"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(narratology) An ending or stopping point calculated to leave a story unresolved, in order to create suspense."
],
"topics": [
"human-sciences",
"linguistics",
"narratology",
"sciences"
],
"translations": [
{
"_dis1": "82 18",
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "(narratology) an ending or stopping point",
"word": "cliffhanger"
},
{
"_dis1": "82 18",
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "(narratology) an ending or stopping point",
"word": "juonen jättäminen jännittävään kohtaan"
},
{
"_dis1": "82 18",
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "(narratology) an ending or stopping point",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "cliffhanger"
},
{
"_dis1": "82 18",
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "(narratology) an ending or stopping point",
"tags": [
"neuter"
],
"word": "offenes Ende"
},
{
"_dis1": "82 18",
"code": "ja",
"lang": "Japanese",
"roman": "kurifuhangā",
"sense": "(narratology) an ending or stopping point",
"word": "クリフハンガー"
},
{
"_dis1": "82 18",
"code": "ms",
"lang": "Malay",
"sense": "(narratology) an ending or stopping point",
"word": "babak tergantung"
},
{
"_dis1": "82 18",
"code": "pl",
"lang": "Polish",
"sense": "(narratology) an ending or stopping point",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "cliffhanger"
},
{
"_dis1": "82 18",
"code": "pl",
"lang": "Polish",
"sense": "(narratology) an ending or stopping point",
"tags": [
"neuter"
],
"word": "zawieszenie akcji"
},
{
"_dis1": "82 18",
"code": "pt",
"lang": "Portuguese",
"sense": "(narratology) an ending or stopping point",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "gancho"
},
{
"_dis1": "82 18",
"code": "pt",
"lang": "Portuguese",
"sense": "(narratology) an ending or stopping point",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "suspense"
},
{
"_dis1": "82 18",
"code": "es",
"lang": "Spanish",
"sense": "(narratology) an ending or stopping point",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "final en vilo"
},
{
"_dis1": "82 18",
"code": "tl",
"lang": "Tagalog",
"sense": "(narratology) an ending or stopping point",
"word": "pabitin"
},
{
"_dis1": "82 18",
"code": "cy",
"lang": "Welsh",
"sense": "(narratology) an ending or stopping point",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "cyfres iasol"
}
]
},
{
"categories": [
{
"_dis": "26 74",
"kind": "other",
"name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
"parents": [
"Entries with incorrect language header",
"Entry maintenance"
],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "38 62",
"kind": "other",
"name": "English entries with topic categories using raw markup",
"parents": [
"Entries with topic categories using raw markup",
"Entry maintenance"
],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "55 45",
"kind": "topical",
"langcode": "en",
"name": "Fiction",
"orig": "en:Fiction",
"parents": [
"Artistic works",
"Art",
"Culture",
"Society",
"All topics",
"Fundamental"
],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "44 56",
"kind": "topical",
"langcode": "en",
"name": "Film",
"orig": "en:Film",
"parents": [
"Entertainment",
"Mass media",
"Culture",
"Media",
"Society",
"Communication",
"All topics",
"Fundamental"
],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "37 63",
"kind": "topical",
"langcode": "en",
"name": "Genres",
"orig": "en:Genres",
"parents": [
"Entertainment",
"Culture",
"Society",
"All topics",
"Fundamental"
],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "40 60",
"kind": "topical",
"langcode": "en",
"name": "Plot devices",
"orig": "en:Plot devices",
"parents": [
"Fiction",
"Narratology",
"Artistic works",
"Drama",
"Literature",
"Art",
"Theater",
"Culture",
"Entertainment",
"Writing",
"Society",
"Human behaviour",
"Language",
"All topics",
"Human",
"Communication",
"Fundamental"
],
"source": "w+disamb"
}
],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "February 28 2008, Timothy Garton Ash, “Russia has run rings round the west”, in Guardian, retrieved 2009-02-02",
"text": "This presidential election is such a cliffhanger. Will it be the rising star Dmitry \"Obamovich\" Medvedev? Or the veteran Gennady \"McCainovich\" Zyuganov?",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"An outcome which is awaited with keen anticipation, especially one which is delayed for a period of time or which is not known until the last minute."
],
"id": "en-cliffhanger-en-noun-deL~FlEV",
"links": [
[
"outcome",
"outcome"
],
[
"await",
"await"
],
[
"keen",
"keen"
],
[
"anticipation",
"anticipation"
],
[
"delay",
"delay"
],
[
"last minute",
"last minute"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(by extension) An outcome which is awaited with keen anticipation, especially one which is delayed for a period of time or which is not known until the last minute."
],
"tags": [
"broadly"
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"ipa": "/ˌklɪfˈhæŋ.ə(ɹ)/",
"tags": [
"UK"
]
},
{
"audio": "en-us-cliffhanger.ogg",
"mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/7/73/En-us-cliffhanger.ogg/En-us-cliffhanger.ogg.mp3",
"ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/73/En-us-cliffhanger.ogg",
"tags": [
"US"
],
"text": "Audio (US)"
}
],
"synonyms": [
{
"_dis1": "0 0",
"word": "cliff hanger"
},
{
"_dis1": "0 0",
"word": "cliff-hanger"
}
],
"word": "cliffhanger"
}
{
"antonyms": [
{
"word": "anticlimax"
}
],
"categories": [
"English 3-syllable words",
"English compound terms",
"English countable nouns",
"English entries with incorrect language header",
"English entries with topic categories using raw markup",
"English lemmas",
"English nouns",
"English terms with IPA pronunciation",
"English terms with audio links",
"en:Fiction",
"en:Film",
"en:Genres",
"en:Plot devices"
],
"derived": [
{
"word": "cliffhang"
}
],
"etymology_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "cliff",
"3": "hanger"
},
"expansion": "cliff + hanger",
"name": "compound"
}
],
"etymology_text": "From cliff + hanger, evoking the image of someone left hanging from a cliff, thereby having an uncertain fate.\nThe term \"cliffhanger\" is considered to have originated with the serialised version of Thomas Hardy's \"A Pair of Blue Eyes\", published in Tinsley's Magazine in the 1870s, in which the character Henry Knight is left hanging off of a cliff. It was inspired by a real life story from his wife Emma's childhood, when she had to rescue one of her school friends from a similar position.",
"forms": [
{
"form": "cliffhangers",
"tags": [
"plural"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {},
"expansion": "cliffhanger (plural cliffhangers)",
"name": "en-noun"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "noun",
"related": [
{
"word": "cliffhanging"
}
],
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
"English terms with quotations",
"en:Narratology"
],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "2007 July 2, Hilary Hylton, “Filming Texas in a Good Light”, in Time, archived from the original on 2009-03-15",
"text": "Back in the early 80s, the hit series Dallas kept the nation guessing with its season-ending cliffhanger \"Who Shot J.R.?\"",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"An ending or stopping point calculated to leave a story unresolved, in order to create suspense."
],
"links": [
[
"narratology",
"narratology"
],
[
"end",
"end"
],
[
"stop",
"stop"
],
[
"story",
"story"
],
[
"suspense",
"suspense"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(narratology) An ending or stopping point calculated to leave a story unresolved, in order to create suspense."
],
"topics": [
"human-sciences",
"linguistics",
"narratology",
"sciences"
]
},
{
"categories": [
"English terms with quotations"
],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "February 28 2008, Timothy Garton Ash, “Russia has run rings round the west”, in Guardian, retrieved 2009-02-02",
"text": "This presidential election is such a cliffhanger. Will it be the rising star Dmitry \"Obamovich\" Medvedev? Or the veteran Gennady \"McCainovich\" Zyuganov?",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"An outcome which is awaited with keen anticipation, especially one which is delayed for a period of time or which is not known until the last minute."
],
"links": [
[
"outcome",
"outcome"
],
[
"await",
"await"
],
[
"keen",
"keen"
],
[
"anticipation",
"anticipation"
],
[
"delay",
"delay"
],
[
"last minute",
"last minute"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(by extension) An outcome which is awaited with keen anticipation, especially one which is delayed for a period of time or which is not known until the last minute."
],
"tags": [
"broadly"
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"ipa": "/ˌklɪfˈhæŋ.ə(ɹ)/",
"tags": [
"UK"
]
},
{
"audio": "en-us-cliffhanger.ogg",
"mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/7/73/En-us-cliffhanger.ogg/En-us-cliffhanger.ogg.mp3",
"ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/73/En-us-cliffhanger.ogg",
"tags": [
"US"
],
"text": "Audio (US)"
}
],
"synonyms": [
{
"word": "cliff hanger"
},
{
"word": "cliff-hanger"
}
],
"translations": [
{
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "(narratology) an ending or stopping point",
"word": "cliffhanger"
},
{
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "(narratology) an ending or stopping point",
"word": "juonen jättäminen jännittävään kohtaan"
},
{
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "(narratology) an ending or stopping point",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "cliffhanger"
},
{
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "(narratology) an ending or stopping point",
"tags": [
"neuter"
],
"word": "offenes Ende"
},
{
"code": "ja",
"lang": "Japanese",
"roman": "kurifuhangā",
"sense": "(narratology) an ending or stopping point",
"word": "クリフハンガー"
},
{
"code": "ms",
"lang": "Malay",
"sense": "(narratology) an ending or stopping point",
"word": "babak tergantung"
},
{
"code": "pl",
"lang": "Polish",
"sense": "(narratology) an ending or stopping point",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "cliffhanger"
},
{
"code": "pl",
"lang": "Polish",
"sense": "(narratology) an ending or stopping point",
"tags": [
"neuter"
],
"word": "zawieszenie akcji"
},
{
"code": "pt",
"lang": "Portuguese",
"sense": "(narratology) an ending or stopping point",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "gancho"
},
{
"code": "pt",
"lang": "Portuguese",
"sense": "(narratology) an ending or stopping point",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "suspense"
},
{
"code": "es",
"lang": "Spanish",
"sense": "(narratology) an ending or stopping point",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "final en vilo"
},
{
"code": "tl",
"lang": "Tagalog",
"sense": "(narratology) an ending or stopping point",
"word": "pabitin"
},
{
"code": "cy",
"lang": "Welsh",
"sense": "(narratology) an ending or stopping point",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "cyfres iasol"
}
],
"word": "cliffhanger"
}
This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-04-26 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-04-21 using wiktextract (93a6c53 and 21a9316). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.
If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.