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Synonyms

thriller

American  
[thril-er] / ˈθrɪl ər /

noun

  1. a person or thing that thrills.

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

thriller British  
/ ˈθrɪlə /

noun

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

  2. 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
thriller Cultural  

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

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

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.

Oscar-nominated filmmaker Santiago Mitre’s new political thriller also started filming last month in Argentina.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 8, 2026

During my first watch, I thought this would be a run-of-the-mill, substandard thriller: Establish the characters, ramp up the obsession, throw a little violence in.

From Salon • Apr. 5, 2026

Will Forte and D’Arcy Carden star in the black comedy/crime thriller set in Australia as co-dependent siblings willing to do anything to get their spray-tan business off the ground.

From MarketWatch • Mar. 31, 2026

Fourth place went to Hindi-language spy thriller "Dhurandhar: The Revenge" with $4.75 million.

From Barron's • Mar. 29, 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

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.