: one that thrills
especially
: a work of fiction or drama designed to hold the interest by the use of a high degree of intrigue, adventure, or suspense
Examples of thriller in a Sentence
His latest novel is a political thriller.
those television awards are hardly thrillers since the same people win year after year
Recent Examples on the Web
In this third thriller featuring Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension Detective Cade Dawkins, Evans gives us one of strangest characters to hit the page recently.
—
Mary Ann Grossmann, Twin Cities, 5 Apr. 2026
This action thriller is on pointe with Maddie Ziegler, Lana Condor, Millicent Simmonds, Iris Apatow and Avantika as ballerinas whose bus breaks down going to a major competition in Budapest.
—Brian Truitt, USA Today, 4 Apr. 2026
That was the case in Saturday morning’s 3-2 thriller in Canada, where the Colorado Rapids gave up a two-goal lead to lose up north to Toronto FC.
—Braidon Nourse, Denver Post, 4 Apr. 2026
Steven Seagal Among the few box-office bombs in Cox’s filmography is The Glimmer Man, a 1996 cop thriller starring martial artist and comedian Keenan Ivory Wayans.
—Kathleen Perricone, Entertainment Weekly, 4 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for thriller
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Mary Ann Grossmann, Twin Cities, 5 Apr. 2026
This action thriller is on pointe with Maddie Ziegler, Lana Condor, Millicent Simmonds, Iris Apatow and Avantika as ballerinas whose bus breaks down going to a major competition in Budapest.
—Brian Truitt, USA Today, 4 Apr. 2026
That was the case in Saturday morning’s 3-2 thriller in Canada, where the Colorado Rapids gave up a two-goal lead to lose up north to Toronto FC.
—Braidon Nourse, Denver Post, 4 Apr. 2026
Steven Seagal Among the few box-office bombs in Cox’s filmography is The Glimmer Man, a 1996 cop thriller starring martial artist and comedian Keenan Ivory Wayans.
—Kathleen Perricone, Entertainment Weekly, 4 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for thriller
Cite this Entry
“Thriller.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/thriller. Accessed 6 Apr. 2026.
Copy CitationKids Definition
thriller
noun
thril·ler
ˈthril-ər 
: one that thrills
especially
: a work of fiction or drama with a great deal of action, mystery, adventure, or suspense
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