spine-chilling
Americanadjective
adjective
Etymology
Origin of spine-chilling
First recorded in 1945–50; spine ( def. ) + chilling ( def. )
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.
But what better way is there to make a monster than to draw from the scariest and most spine-chilling in the game?
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 27, 2025
Dahlia Lithwick looks at how his rhetoric has been getting even more spine-chilling of late, and why we can’t afford to lose sight of what’s at stake.
From Slate ● Nov. 16, 2023
The unlikely meshing of gospel and rap, spine-chilling lyrics and clever sampling of Stevie Wonder’s “Pastime Paradise” would eventually turn the single into a chart-topping hit and catapult the rapper’s decades-long musical career.
From Washington Post ● Sep. 29, 2022
Ledgerwood says Bell’s voice “could go so quickly from a sultry coo to an absolutely spine-chilling shriek.”
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 8, 2021
No sooner had Jasper Jr. knocked me to the ground than I heard Bull cut loose with a spine-chilling wail.
From "Flush" by Carl Hiaasen
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.
