nail biters
Down-to-the-wire affairs
Nail biters are situations of tense suspense where the outcome remains uncertain until the very end—elections, close games, thriller films.
The term evokes the nervous habit of chewing one's fingernails: The championship game was a real nail biter.
A nail biter can also be a person who habitually bites their nails.
- thrillerSuspense-driven narrative genre
- close callDisaster narrowly averted
- too close to callUndecidable by current count
- cliffhangerSuspenseful unresolved ending
- anxietyPersistent apprehensive distress
suspense · last-minute · tension · high stakes · white knuckle · showdown · buzzer beater · sudden death · come from behind · stress · self-soothing · fidgeting · intensely · nervousness · photo finish · worry · gripping · chewing
- habit typessmokers, gamblers, procrastinators, coffee drinkers, early risers
- chewersgnawers, ruminants, cows, goats, sheep
nail bitersblowouts
Decisive one-sided wins
runaways · routs · landslides · walkovers · cakewalks
nail biterssnoozefests
Extremely dull occasions
yawners · sleepers · duds · non-events
nail bitersforegone conclusions
Results assumed beforehand
sure things · snoozers · yawners · anticlimaxes · runaways
nail, nails, nailed, nailing, bite, bites, biter, biters, biting