1. of, relating to, or characterized by aposiopesis; breaking off abruptly in speech, leaving a thought unfinished for rhetorical effect
Usage: literary and rhetorical term; often used in analysis of literature and rhetoric

Examples

• The speaker's aposiopetic pause left the audience in suspense, wondering what she would say next.
• In the poem, the aposiopetic line 'If only I could…' suggests the speaker's emotional turmoil without stating it directly.
• The novelist used an aposiopetic technique to convey the character's shock and inability to continue speaking.
• His aposiopetic response—'I think we should…' followed by silence—implied disagreement without confrontation.
• The aposiopetic ending of the chapter forced readers to imagine the character's unspoken thoughts.