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.”
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
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.
The low-budget action thriller was self-financed, heavily restricted in the director’s home country of Germany and eviscerated by the movie critics who wrote about it.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jul. 9, 2026
The company had previously received state subsidies for the 2012 political thriller “Argo” and 2025’s “The Accountant 2.”
From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 7, 2026
Holding on to fifth place is the Stephen Spielberg-directed sci-fi thriller "Disclosure Day," which earned $6 million for a current total of $105 million.
From Barron's • Jul. 5, 2026
Through all of the murky questions about the differences between power and glory, decency and impropriety, De Palma lands on a remarkable base of human connection that elevates “Blow Out” beyond the average thriller.
From Salon • Jul. 4, 2026
"You'll probably grow up to write those thriller movies where everyone's always screaming."
From "Miracle's Boys" by Jacqueline Woodson
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.
