thriller
Americannoun
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a person or thing that thrills.
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an exciting, suspenseful play or story, especially a mystery story.
noun
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a book, film, play, etc, depicting crime, mystery, or espionage in an atmosphere of excitement and suspense
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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.”
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
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Literary Genres - Advanced
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Reading: Literature - Literary Genres - Middle School
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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.
“Behind the Doors of Justice” topped two of Amazon.com’s thriller and true-crime categories for a day.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 24, 2026
His 2008 debut, “The Chaser,” found new febrility in the post-Fincher serial killer thriller.
From Los Angeles Times • May 17, 2026
Reich cited Christopher Nolan's upcoming ancient Greek action movie "Odyssey" and Steven Spielberg's science-fiction thriller "Disclosure Day" as possible Cannes films.
From Barron's • May 11, 2026
Some scenes for the Rocky Horror Picture Show were recorded at the studios in 1974 and Ridley Scott built and shot the miniatures for his Academy Award winning sci-fi thriller Alien there in 1978.
From BBC • May 9, 2026
On my father’s is a spy thriller that he must have been reading.
From "Landscape with Invisible Hand" by M.T. Anderson
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.
