HAIR-RAISER Synonyms: 8 Similar and Opposite Words

hair-raiser

noun

ˈher-ˌrā-zər

as in thriller

something (as a close contest) that induces much suspense as to its outcome since they had been dating for five years, her answer to his proposal wasn't exactly a hair-raiser

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of hair-raiser In Hokum, the Cork native transports viewers to Ireland’s remote and possibly haunted Bilberry Woods Hotel alongside prickly American author Ohm Baumann (Adam Scott) for a good ol' fashioned hair-raiser of a ghost story. —

Megan McCluskey, Time, 4 May 2026 The streamer has a deep bench of horror films from all eras of cinema among its offerings, from influential classics like Nosferatu (1922) to newer hair-raisers like Possessor (2020), and all kinds of thrillers and chillers in between. —

Kevin Jacobsen, Entertainment Weekly, 31 Jan. 2026 And the Halloween-eve hair-raiser adds a cackling skeleton to a horror arcade of ghoulish news for EVs. —

Shawn Tully, Fortune, 30 Oct. 2023

Recent Examples of Synonyms for hair-raiser

thriller

Noun

In fact, one of my chief complaints about some contemporary thrillers is the feeling that characters are required to do dumb stuff by the unseen hand of the author, just so more crazy twists can happen.

— John Warner, Chicago Tribune, 16 May 2026
The crime thriller is understood to also be a political and moral fable, as the title, which is a nod to Greek mythology, hints at.

— Georg Szalai, HollywoodReporter, 16 May 2026