hair-raiser

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 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
  • Deadline’s virtual fall screening series For the Love of Docs kicks off its sixth season tonight with Antidote, the documentary thriller about Christo Grosev, the investigative journalist pursued around the world by the Kremlin.
    Matthew Carey, Deadline, 30 Sep. 2025
  • Brazil is in turmoil in Kleber Mendonça Filho’s latest film, the political thriller The Secret Agent.
    Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 30 Sep. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Hair-raiser.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hair-raiser. Accessed 7 Oct. 2025.

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