aposiopesis

plural aposiopeses

1. countablerhetoricuncountableAn abrupt breaking-off in speech, often indicated in print using an ellipsis (…) or an em dash (—).

   “If you are not—” The aposiopesis was icy.

   1911, Max Beerbohm, Zuleika Dobson

   4 more examples

   —"My ſiſter, mayhap," quoth my uncle Toby, "does not chooſe to let a man come ſo near her ****" Make this daſh—'tis an Apoſiopeſis.—Take the daſh away, and write Backſide,—'tis Bawdy.

   1759, [Laurence Sterne], chapter VI, in The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman, 2nd (1st London) edition, volume II, London: […] R[obert] and J[ames] Dodsley […], published 1760, →OCLC, page 49

   Aposiopesis leaves imperfect sense; And, sometimes, such a pause speaks eloquence.

   1835, L[arret] Langley, “[Rhetorical Figures.] Aposiopesis.”, in A Manual of the Figures of Rhetoric, […], Doncaster, South Yorkshire: […] C. White, […], →OCLC, page 57

   “Have fire in this garret before night or—” / He stopped because he could not go on. It was an aposiopesis of the purest kind.

   1938, Samuel Beckett, Murphy, London: George Routledge & Sons, OCLC 939632162; republished New York, N.Y.: Grove Press, 1957, OCLC 855435111, page 164

   This somewhat abrupt ending (or aposiopesis) is caused by a previous movement from the figure on the bed.

   1982, John Fowles, Mantissa, London: Jonathan Cape, →ISBN

   Synonyms: reticence