thriller

From thrill +‎ -er (suffix: agent noun).

• enPR: thrĭl′ər
• (Received Pronunciation, General Australian) IPA^(key): /ˈθɹɪl.ə/

  Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• (General American, Canada, Scotland) IPA^(key): /ˈθɹɪl.əɹ/
• (New Zealand) IPA^(key): /ˈθɹəl.ɐ/
• (India) IPA^(key): /ˈt̪ʰɾi.ləɾ/
• Rhymes: -ɪlə(ɹ)
• Hyphenation: thrill‧er

thriller (plural thrillers)

1. (generally) Something that thrills.
   • 2012 December 29, Paul Doyle, “Arsenal's Theo Walcott hits hat-trick in thrilling victory over Newcastle”, in The Guardian‎^[1]:

     While Arsenal had enjoyed a Boxing Day break thanks to the cancellation of their game against West Ham, Newcastle had come out of the wrong end of a thriller at Old Trafford and Pardew said that strain accounted for his side conceding four goals at the Emirates after Demba Ba had drawn Newcastle level for the third time in the 69th minute.

3. (film, literature) A suspenseful, sensational genre of story, book, play, film.

   She loves to read thriller books.

   Synonym: pulp novel

   Hypernyms: detective story, mystery novel, whodunit, crime fiction

   Hyponyms: ecothriller, horror movie, hard-boiled crime fiction

4. (beverages) A sharp, usually sweetened herbal tea flavored with a fruit or berry.

• chiller
• page-turner

Unadapted borrowing from English thriller.

• IPA^(key): [ˈtrɪlɛr]
• Rhymes: -ɪlɛr
• Hyphenation: thril‧ler

thriller m inan

2. (film, literature) thriller (a suspenseful, sensational genre of fiction)

• “thriller”, in Kartotéka Novočeského lexikálního archivu (in Czech)

Borrowed from English thriller.

• IPA^(key): /ˈtrɪ.lər/, [ˈθrɪ.lər]

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪlər
• Hyphenation: thril‧ler

thriller m (plural thrillers, diminutive thrillertje n)

2. (film, literature) thriller (a suspenseful, sensational genre of fiction)

Borrowed from English thriller.

• IPA^(key): /tʁi.lœʁ/, (anglicized) /sʁi.lœʁ/
• Hyphenation: thril‧ler

thriller m (plural thrillers)

2. (film, literature) thriller (a suspenseful, sensational genre of fiction)

   Hyponym: éco-thriller

• “thriller”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Borrowed from English thriller.

• IPA^(key): /ˈtril.ler/^[1]
• Rhymes: -iller
• Hyphenation: thrìl‧ler

thriller m (invariable)

2. (film, literature) thriller (a suspenseful, sensational genre of fiction)

• thriller in Dizionario Italiano Olivetti, Olivetti Media Communication
• thriller in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana

Unadapted borrowing from English thriller.

• IPA^(key): /ˈtri.lɛr/, /ˈtril.lɛr/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ilɛr, -illɛr
• Syllabification: thril‧ler

thriller m inan

1. (film, literature) thriller (a suspenseful, sensational genre of story, book, play, film)

   Synonym: dreszczowiec

   Hypernyms: dzieło, utwór

   Near-synonym: horror

   thriller opowiada o czymś ― thriller tells the story of something

   • 1929 April 6, Z. Gr., “Z literatury angielskiej”, in Tygodnik Illustrowany‎^[2], number 14, Warszawa: Unger, Józef, retrieved 27 April 2025, page 274:

     Jest to „thriller“ w całej rozciągłości i to z rozdaju kryminalno-awanturniczego, […].

     It is a “thriller” in its entirety and from the crime-avantage rift, […].

   • 2001 May 18, ma, “Próba sił”, in Wieczór Wybrzeża, quoted in Narodowy Korpus Języka Polskiego, Wrocław: Polskapresse, oddział Prasa Bałtycka, →ISSN:

     Horrory i thrillery cieszą się nieustającym powodzeniem u publiczności, która niezależnie od panującej aktualnie w kinie mody po prostu lubi się bać.

     Horror movies and thrillers enjoy continued success with audiences who, regardless of the current fashion in cinema, simply like to be scared.

   • 2006 April 14, Marcin Wilk, “Krakowska Lista Bestsellerów Książkowych”, in Dziennik Polski, quoted in Narodowy Korpus Języka Polskiego, Kraków: Jagiellonia, →ISSN, →OCLC:

     Nowa książka amerykańskiej pisarki. Wielbiciele thrillerów psychologicznych zacierają ręce.

     A new book by an American writer. Fans of psychological thrillers cherish.

   • 2007 October 5, X, “Ring po amerykańsku”, in Polska Głos Wielkopolski, quoted in Narodowy Korpus Języka Polskiego, Poznań: Polskapresse, oddział Prasa Poznańska, →ISSN:

     „Niewidzialny” to anglojęzyczna wersja japońskiego thrillera, który opowiada o... pośmiertnych losach zamordowanego nastolatka.

     “The Invisible” is an English-language version of a Japanese thriller, that tells the story of... the posthumous fate of a murdered teenager.

   • 2009 July 2, Konrad Wągrowski, “Terminator: 10 najważniejszych filmów o podróżach w czasie”, in Esencja, number 05, quoted in Narodowy Korpus Języka Polskiego, Warszawa: Wągrowski, Konrad, →ISSN, →OCLC:

     Niskonakładowy[,] mroczny thriller science fiction osiągnął zaskakujący sukces i otworzył wrota kariery dla Arnolda Schwarzeneggera i Jamesa Camerona.

     The low-budget[,] dark science fiction thriller was a surprising success and launched the careers of Arnold Schwarzenegger and James Cameron.

• thriller in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• thriller in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Unadapted borrowing from English thriller.

thriller n (plural thrillere)

2. (film, literature) thriller (a suspenseful, sensational genre of fiction)

Unadapted borrowing from English thriller.

• IPA^(key): /ˈθrileɾ/ [ˈθ̬ri.leɾ] (Spain)
• IPA^(key): /ˈsrileɾ/ [ˈzri.leɾ] (Latin America, Philippines)
• IPA^(key): /ˈtɾileɾ/ [ˈt̪ɾi.leɾ]
• Rhymes: -ileɾ
• Syllabification: thril‧ler

thriller m (plural thrillers or thriller)

2. (film, literature) thriller (a suspenseful, sensational genre of fiction)

According to Royal Spanish Academy (RAE) prescriptions, unadapted foreign words should be written in italics in a text printed in roman type, and vice versa, and in quotation marks in a manuscript text or when italics are not available. In practice, this RAE prescription is not always followed.

• “thriller”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 10 December 2024

Unadapted borrowing from English thriller.

thriller c

2. (film, literature) thriller (a suspenseful, sensational genre of fiction)

• actionthriller
• dramathriller
• spionthriller
• thrillerdrama
• thrillerserie

• thriller in Svensk ordbok (SO)
• thriller in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
• thriller in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)