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:
Kilmarnock were the first team into the last eight after beating Ayrshire rivals Ayr United in a five-goal thriller.
From BBC ● Aug. 16, 2026
She could write and she wrote a great deal, including detective fiction, a gothic thriller “of devilry, seduction, and hashish” and stories about “ghosts, suicides, and kidnapping.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026
Matthew McConaughey had plenty of reasons to select "The Rivals of Amziah King," a honey-themed thriller set in the American Southwest, for his return to the big screen after more than five years away.
From Barron's ● Aug. 13, 2026
She met Abbott when they worked together on the 2020 psychological thriller “Black Bear.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 10, 2026
If a novelist put some of this stuff into a fictional thriller, the reader would be justified in throwing the book aside and shouting, “Come on, that would never happen!”
From "Fallout: Spies, Superbombs, and the Ultimate Cold War Showdown" by Steve Sheinkin
Working with cinematographer Ashley Connor, DeYoung drew from 1970s conspiracy thrillers like “The Parallax View” and “All the President’s Men.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 12, 2026
Reggie Bannister, the actor who devoted his decades-long career primarily to independent horror thrillers including all five films of the the cult “Phantasm” franchise, has died.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 11, 2026
Author of The Housemaid, Freida McFadden, recently posted on Facebook about his thriller Kill for Me, Kill for You, saying it is "one of the best thrillers I've ever read".
From BBC ● Aug. 3, 2026
Their fated romance is the final piece of the puzzle, the pièce de résistance that helps De Palma’s film rise above the other thrillers of its ilk.
From Salon ● Jul. 4, 2026
The bookshelf is full of Mom’s favorite thrillers, but I can’t seem to get into any of them.
From "The Running Dream" by Wendelin Van Draanen
Definitions 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.
