- present participle of thrill.
thrilling
Americanadjective
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producing sudden, strong, and deep emotion or excitement.
-
producing a tremor, as by chilling.
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vibrating; trembling; quivering.
adjective
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very exciting or stimulating
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vibrating or trembling
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of thrilling
Explanation
When something is thrilling, it makes you feel excited or exhilarated. Roller coasters are thrilling for some people—other people just find them nauseating. If your heart is beating fast and you feel absolutely elated, something thrilling is happening. Some of us find it thrilling to speak in front of a crowd or to dive into a cold lake. It's also thrilling to see your favorite movie star in person or to get a poem published in a magazine. The adjective thrilling comes from the verb thrill, which originally meant "pierce," and later "give a shivering excitement" or "pierce with emotion."
Vocabulary lists containing thrilling
List 1
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Amazing
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Amazing, List 1
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Despite Wade's milestone, the match was far from a thrilling spectacle.
From BBC ● Oct. 23, 2026
While no one complained when a thrilling Buffalo Bills overtime win over the Los Angeles Rams took 3:32, bloated pockets of dead air or time spent litigating penalties don’t make for the most compelling product.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 22, 2026
That kind of talk is thrilling to investors.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 21, 2026
From the makers of the extended, lightly thrilling 12-team postseason format comes an unsolicited supersizing.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 20, 2026
He might never have learned to appreciate how easy and thrilling it was to jump from one continent to another, or how to embrace the unfamiliar.
From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
