緊張
きんちょう · kinchou · JLPT N3 · noun
nervousness
🎻 緊張 = tight + stretched, like a string pulled taut
緊 means tight or tense and 張 means to stretch, as in stretching a bowstring or a string on an instrument. A nerve pulled tight and stretched is tension or nervousness. Sound hook: kinchou, your chin goes tight when you're nervous.