thriller
Americannoun
-
thrillers
plural
-
a person or thing that thrills.
-
an exciting, suspenseful play or story, especially a mystery story.
noun
-
a book, film, play, etc, depicting crime, mystery, or espionage in an atmosphere of excitement and suspense
-
a person or thing that thrills
Discover More
In Great Britain, the word thriller is sometimes used for all mystery novels: “Martha Grimes, an American, writes British-style thrillers.”
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of thriller
1885–90; 1920–25 thriller for def. 2; thrill + -er 1
Explanation
A thriller is a suspenseful movie, TV show, book, or play. If you love thrillers, you probably enjoy mysterious plots, suspicious characters, and being on the edge of your seat. Thrillers are known for being exciting and sometimes scary, evoking emotions like anticipation, fear, and suspense. They tend to use plot twists and cliffhangers to keep an audience or reader intrigued, and they often feature a villain. The literary label thriller first appeared in the late 1800s, from the verb thrill, "give a shivering, excited feeling."
Vocabulary lists containing thriller
Literary Genres - Introductory
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Literary Genres - Advanced
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
Reading: Literature - Literary Genres - Middle School
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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.
See Examples For:
It’s a semi-immersive thriller about a struggling American actor in London who is hired to record an audio drama and finds the experience increasingly disturbing—and psychologically destructive.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 15, 2026
An action-packed supernatural thriller: Netflix’s new No. 1 show, Below, stars Josh Hartnett as a brooding Newfoundlander haunted by something supernatural lurking in the ocean’s depths.
From Slate ● Oct. 14, 2026
The new A24 crime thriller depicts the show's host, NBC journalist Chris Hansen, carrying out sting operations on would-be predators.
From BBC ● Oct. 11, 2026
"Verity," Amazon MGM's psychological thriller based on a novel by Colleen Hoover, dropped from first to second place at $11.5 million, according to Exhibitor Relations.
From Barron's ● Oct. 11, 2026
A lot of commercials came on during that time of year that were kind of scary, but this one was for a new teen thriller I’d never heard about before.
From "Auggie & Me" by R. J. Palacio
Tess Gerritsen, the author of many thrillers, once had an older character, a former spy, observe that for a clandestine agent “gray hair is the best disguise.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 15, 2026
The film marks a departure for Gilroy, who cut his teeth writing action movies like the "Bourne" films and legal thrillers like "Michael Clayton."
From Barron's ● Oct. 4, 2026
The fall TV season has the return of hit series, new thrillers and adaptations of Steinbeck and Austen classics.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 26, 2026
Film fans have had plenty of chances to spot Glasgow on the big screen in recent years, from superhero blockbusters to futuristic sci-fi thrillers.
From BBC ● Sep. 13, 2026
He’s been in thirty-eight dramas, twelve crime pictures and comedies, eleven thrillers, eight action films, seven Westerns, six war movies, four documentaries, three horror flicks, two sci-fi films, and a musical, among others.
From "The Tipping Point" by Malcolm Gladwell
Random Word
Spin the wheel and learn a new word!
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.
