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definitions

thriller

[ thril-er ]
/ ˈθrɪl ər /
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SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR thriller ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a person or thing that thrills.
an exciting, suspenseful play or story, especially a mystery story.

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RELATED WORDS

riddle, conundrum, subtlety, question, enigma, secrecy, problem, tension, anxiety, apprehension, confusion, uncertainty, doubt, insecurity, puzzlement, shocker, mystification, perplexity, stickler, cliffhanger

Nearby words

  1. thrifty,
  2. thrill,
  3. thrill to pieces,
  4. thrill-seeker,
  5. thrilled,
  6. thrilling,
  7. thrillingly,
  8. thrippence,
  9. thrips,
  10. thrive

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. 2019

Examples from the Web for thriller

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
Word Origin and History for thriller

thriller

n.

1889, "sensational story," agent noun from thrill (v.).

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Culture definitions for thriller

thriller

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

Note

In Great Britain, the word thriller is sometimes used for all mystery novels: “Martha Grimes, an American, writes British-style thrillers.”
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.