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
Yakusho, 70, has been a defining presence in Japanese cinema for four decades, working across crime thrillers, historical epics, and international co-productions.
—
Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 26 Apr. 2026
The former is right up the alley of fans of supernatural thrillers, while the latter pulls back the curtain on the invention of reality TV.
—Kat Chen, Condé Nast Traveler, 25 Apr. 2026
To be clear, in this country, this is still the stuff of B-list thrillers.
—Sue Halpern, New Yorker, 24 Apr. 2026
This container garden features a bold palette of red and chartreuse in the classic combo of thrillers, fillers, and spillers.
—Midwest Living, 22 Apr. 2026
April’s Criterion Channel grid wades into the morally corrupt boardrooms of corporate thrillers.
—Joe Reid, Vulture, 14 Apr. 2026
Jokić and company are on a 10-game win streak, which includes overtime thrillers against the Spurs and Portland Trail Blazers.
—Steven Louis Goldstein, New York Times, 10 Apr. 2026
One of Hitchcock's lighter thrillers, Young and Innocent is a straightforward wrong-man film elevated by the chemistry of its leads, Derrick De Marney as a fugitive and Nova Pilbeam as a young woman roped into his antics.
—Wesley Stenzel, Entertainment Weekly, 4 Apr. 2026
In 1963 Alfred Hitchcock released The Birds, one of his most iconic thrillers.
—Encyclopedia Britannica, 2 Apr. 2026
Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 26 Apr. 2026
The former is right up the alley of fans of supernatural thrillers, while the latter pulls back the curtain on the invention of reality TV.
—Kat Chen, Condé Nast Traveler, 25 Apr. 2026
To be clear, in this country, this is still the stuff of B-list thrillers.
—Sue Halpern, New Yorker, 24 Apr. 2026
This container garden features a bold palette of red and chartreuse in the classic combo of thrillers, fillers, and spillers.
—Midwest Living, 22 Apr. 2026
April’s Criterion Channel grid wades into the morally corrupt boardrooms of corporate thrillers.
—Joe Reid, Vulture, 14 Apr. 2026
Jokić and company are on a 10-game win streak, which includes overtime thrillers against the Spurs and Portland Trail Blazers.
—Steven Louis Goldstein, New York Times, 10 Apr. 2026
One of Hitchcock's lighter thrillers, Young and Innocent is a straightforward wrong-man film elevated by the chemistry of its leads, Derrick De Marney as a fugitive and Nova Pilbeam as a young woman roped into his antics.
—Wesley Stenzel, Entertainment Weekly, 4 Apr. 2026
In 1963 Alfred Hitchcock released The Birds, one of his most iconic thrillers.
—Encyclopedia Britannica, 2 Apr. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for thrillers
Noun
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The Music Box continues its series celebrating nail-biters centered on prison breaks.—
Jennifer Day,
Chicago Tribune,
16 Apr. 2026
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Key said Kentucky has been in enough nail-biters under Brooks that the players have learned to handle those challenges.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
23 Mar. 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 2 May. 2026.
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