Meanings
plural cliffhangers · alternative cliff hanger · alternative cliff-hanger
- human sciencesAn ending or stopping point calculated to leave a story unresolved, in order to create suspense.
Back in the early 80s, the hit series Dallas kept the nation guessing with its season-ending cliffhanger "Who Shot J.R.?"
2007 July 2, Hilary Hylton, “Filming Texas in a Good Light”, in Time, archived from the original on 15 Mar 2009Antonyms: anticlimax
- broadlyAn 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.
This presidential election is such a cliffhanger. Will it be the rising star Dmitry "Obamovich" Medvedev? Or the veteran Gennady "McCainovich" Zyuganov?
February 28 2008, Timothy Garton Ash, “Russia has run rings round the west”, in Guardian, retrieved 02 Feb 2009
Synonyms & antonyms
nounAn ending or stopping point calculated to leave a story unresolved, in order to create suspense.
Origin
From cliff + hanger, evoking the image of someone left hanging from a cliff, thereby having an uncertain fate. The term cliffhanger is considered to have originated with the serialized 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.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic نِهَايَة مُشَوِّقَة, تَشْوِيق
- نِهَايَة مُشَوِّقَة(narratology) an ending or stopping point
- تَشْوِيق (tašwīq)(narratology) an ending or stopping point
Catalan final penjat, deixada en suspens
- final penjat(narratology) an ending or stopping point
- deixada en suspens(narratology) an ending or stopping point
- final de suspens(narratology) an ending or stopping point
Finnish cliffhanger, juonen jättäminen jännittävään kohtaan
- cliffhanger(narratology) an ending or stopping point
- juonen jättäminen jännittävään kohtaan(narratology) an ending or stopping point
French cliffhanger
- cliffhanger(narratology) an ending or stopping point
German offenes Ende
- offenes Ende(narratology) an ending or stopping point
Hebrew קליף האנגר
- קליף האנגר (klif hanger)(narratology) an ending or stopping point
Japanese クリフハンガー
- クリフハンガー (kurifuhangā)(narratology) an ending or stopping point
Korean 클리프행어
- 클리프행어 (keullipeuhaeng'eo)outcome awaited with keen anticipation
Malay babak tergantung
- babak tergantung(narratology) an ending or stopping point
Persian پایان نفسگیر
- پایان نفسگیر (pâyân-e nafas-gir)(narratology) an ending or stopping point
Polish cliffhanger, zawieszenie akcji
- cliffhanger(narratology) an ending or stopping point
- zawieszenie akcji(narratology) an ending or stopping point
- cliffhangeroutcome awaited with keen anticipation
Portuguese gancho, suspense
- gancho(narratology) an ending or stopping point
- suspense(narratology) an ending or stopping point
Russian клиффхэ́нгер
- клиффхэ́нгер (kliffxɛ́nger)(narratology) an ending or stopping point
Spanish final en vilo
- final en vilo(narratology) an ending or stopping point
Tagalog pabitin
- pabitin(narratology) an ending or stopping point
Ukrainian кліфге́нґер, кліфге́нгер
- кліфге́нґер (klifhénger)(narratology) an ending or stopping point
- кліфге́нгер (klifhénher)(narratology) an ending or stopping point
Welsh cyfres iasol, clo crog
- cyfres iasol(narratology) an ending or stopping point
- clo crog(narratology) an ending or stopping point
Cite this entry
cliffhanger. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cliffhanger
“cliffhanger.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cliffhanger. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “cliffhanger,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cliffhanger.
Source: cliffhanger on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.