as in suspensers
something (as a close contest) that induces much suspense as to its outcome
those television awards are hardly thrillers since the same people win year after year
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Recent Examples of thrillers
In 2014 McFadden published what would be the first of numerous thrillers.
—
Laura Payne, Encyclopedia Britannica, 3 June 2026
Most Southern gardeners have their vegetable garden planted, summer annuals in the ground and already blooming, containers set with thrillers, fillers, and spillers, the lawn fertilized, and their mowing routine down.
—Mary Marlowe Leverette, Southern Living, 31 May 2026
Soviet-era thrillers about a Cold War race to get a man on the moon.
—Erik Kain, Forbes.com, 29 May 2026
Netflix, in particular, has several original films in its summer lineup, from rom-coms and psychological thrillers to a stop-motion dark fairytale.
—Brianna Zigler, Entertainment Weekly, 27 May 2026
Finding clever new ways to tell a familiar story of crooked cops and small-town corruption, the movie calls to mind both the deadpan thrillers of the Coen brothers and the downbeat ’70s crime flicks of French helmer Alain Corneau.
—David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 22 May 2026
Assayas has made several thrillers about moments of political instability, such as the energetic Something in the Air (set in France after the protests of 1968) and the sweeping crime thriller Carlos (about the Venezuelan political terrorist Carlos the Jackal).
—David Sims, The Atlantic, 20 May 2026
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
Some instances of the passionate emotion veer into more bloody endeavors with thrillers like Obsession and Lurker.
—Savannah Salazar, Vulture, 15 May 2026
Laura Payne, Encyclopedia Britannica, 3 June 2026
Most Southern gardeners have their vegetable garden planted, summer annuals in the ground and already blooming, containers set with thrillers, fillers, and spillers, the lawn fertilized, and their mowing routine down.
—Mary Marlowe Leverette, Southern Living, 31 May 2026
Soviet-era thrillers about a Cold War race to get a man on the moon.
—Erik Kain, Forbes.com, 29 May 2026
Netflix, in particular, has several original films in its summer lineup, from rom-coms and psychological thrillers to a stop-motion dark fairytale.
—Brianna Zigler, Entertainment Weekly, 27 May 2026
Finding clever new ways to tell a familiar story of crooked cops and small-town corruption, the movie calls to mind both the deadpan thrillers of the Coen brothers and the downbeat ’70s crime flicks of French helmer Alain Corneau.
—David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 22 May 2026
Assayas has made several thrillers about moments of political instability, such as the energetic Something in the Air (set in France after the protests of 1968) and the sweeping crime thriller Carlos (about the Venezuelan political terrorist Carlos the Jackal).
—David Sims, The Atlantic, 20 May 2026
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
Some instances of the passionate emotion veer into more bloody endeavors with thrillers like Obsession and Lurker.
—Savannah Salazar, Vulture, 15 May 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for thrillers
Noun
-
The Avs, who won the President’s Trophy with the league’s best regular-season record, opened the playoffs with a pair of 2-1 nail-biters over the Kings.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
4 May 2026
-
The Music Box continues its series celebrating nail-biters centered on prison breaks.—
Jennifer Day,
Chicago Tribune,
16 Apr. 2026
Noun
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And many have speculated that Netflix’s vast trove of data informs certain narrative habits on its shows (cliff-hangers to encourage bingeing, for example, and frequent restating of plot points to engage viewers distracted by their phones).—
Geoff Colvin,
Fortune,
13 Mar. 2026
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The biggest key to the success of minidramas, though, is the cliff-hangers, which push viewers to keep paying for the next episode.—
Yixuan Tan,
NBC news,
17 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Thrillers.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/thrillers. Accessed 12 Jun. 2026.
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