thriller

[thril-er]

noun

1. a person or thing that thrills.

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

thriller

/ 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

thriller

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

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of thriller¹

1885–90; 1920–25 thriller for def. 2; thrill + -er ¹

Example Sentences

In the new sports thriller “HIM,” director and co-writer Justin Tipping cleverly lampoons the intense fanfare of organized sports, examining how much the pursuit of an intangible title like “GOAT” can cost an ambitious player.

From Salon

Alan J. Pakula’s Watergate drama is remembered as one of the great political thrillers, but for Redford it was a gamble of conviction and clout.

From Los Angeles Times

By 1962, he had appeared in a “Twilight Zone” episode and the low-budget Korean War thriller “War Hunt” with Sydney Pollack.

From Los Angeles Times

Gilroy’s win marked the first Primetime Emmy Award bestowed upon the spy thriller, which had won four awards at the Creative Arts Emmys just last week.

From Los Angeles Times

Instead, this year's contenders include wealth satire The White Lotus, Star Wars spin-off Andor, dystopian drama Paradise and sci-fi thriller Severance.

From BBC

Related Words

• conundrum 
• enigma 
• problem 
• question 
• riddle 
• secrecy 
• subtlety