Angespannte

Angespannte is a German adjective meaning tense or strained, applied to people, emotions, or situations. It derives from the verb spannen with the prefix an-, indicating increased tension and is related to the noun Spannung (tension). The form angespannte is one inflected variant used before feminine singular nouns or before plural nouns in certain cases, and it also appears in plural phrases such as angespannte Nerven. The base form of the adjective is angespannt.

Usage of angespannte covers both physical and psychological tension. It can describe muscle tension, the tension in objects like cables, or social and emotional strain in a group or situation. In everyday and formal language, it appears in a range of contexts from journalism to psychology and politics. Typical collocations include descriptions of a tense situation or a tense mood, for example in passages about negotiations, events, or public discourse.

Grammar notes emphasize that the endings of angespannte depend on gender, number, and case. When used attributively before feminine singular nouns, or before plural nouns, the form adjusts to fit the noun it accompanies. In addition, the adjective can be nominalized in rare contexts to refer to a group of people who are tense, though this usage is uncommon and often replaced by a more explicit description.

Related terms include gespannt (the base form meaning tense in a more general sense), nervös (nervous), and unter Druck stehend (under pressure). Angespannte is part of a broader vocabulary describing states of strain, stress, and emotional or physical tightness.