thriller

[ thril-er ]

/ ˈθrɪl ər /

SEE SYNONYMS FOR thriller ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a person or thing that thrills.

an exciting, suspenseful play or story, especially a mystery story.

Words nearby thriller

thriftshop, thrifty, thrill, thrill to pieces, thrill-seeker, thriller, thrilling, thrippence, thrips, thrive, thrix

Origin of thriller

1885–90; 1920–25 for def 2; thrill + -er¹

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020

Examples from the Web for thriller

Thriller author Patrick Oster was a reporter in Berlin when the wall came down 25 years ago.
How The Cold War Endgame Played Out In The Rubble Of The Berlin Wall|William O’Connor|November 9, 2014|DAILY BEAST
What prompted you to pick the fall of the Berlin Wall as the backdrop for your thriller?
How The Cold War Endgame Played Out In The Rubble Of The Berlin Wall|William O’Connor|November 9, 2014|DAILY BEAST
With Thriller, we took 800 songs and whittled them down to nine.
Quincy Jones Talks Chicago’s Mean Streets, Why Kanye West Is No Michael Jackson, and Bieber|Marlow Stern|September 25, 2014|DAILY BEAST
He believed American audiences were ready for a thriller set in Africa.
How I Got Addicted to Africa (and Wrote a Thriller About It)|Todd Moss|September 9, 2014|DAILY BEAST

His detective novels contain none of the twists that strain credulity so often relied upon by thriller novelists.
What Would You Do if the World Was Over?|William O’Connor|August 5, 2014|DAILY BEAST
After the baseball news and a fair start in the thriller, he indulged further in past grievances.
Leerie|Ruth Sawyer
This was a thriller that appealed to the familiar in him,—the impishness that died hard.
Joyce of the North Woods|Harriet T. Comstock
If she only could write scenarios, what a thriller this would make!
Exit Betty|Grace Livingston Hill
These books are quite different from the ordinary detective novel and from the more traditional type of thriller.
Report of the Juvenile Delinquency Committee|Ronald Macmillan Algie
“But a thriller,” Ace assured them, as Norris lighted his pipe on the lee of a bowlder.
Unexplored!|Allen Chaffee

British Dictionary definitions for thriller

thriller

/ (ˈθrɪlə) /

noun

a book, film, play, etc, depicting crime, mystery, or espionage in an atmosphere of excitement and suspense

a person or thing that thrills

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Cultural definitions for thriller

thriller

A suspenseful, sensational story or film: “Ken Follett writes best-selling spy thrillers.”

notes for thriller

In Great Britain, the word thriller is sometimes used for all mystery novels: “Martha Grimes, an American, writes British-style thrillers.”

thriller

noun

Words related to thriller

Words nearby thriller

Origin of thriller

Examples from the Web for thriller

British Dictionary definitions for thriller

noun

Cultural definitions for thriller

notes for thriller