thrill
verb · noun
Simple meaning
To suddenly excite someone, or to give someone great pleasure.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
thrilIPA pronunciation (US)
ˈθɹɪl
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
verb
ergative
To suddenly excite someone, or to give someone great pleasure; to (figuratively) electrify; to experience such a sensation.
noun
A trembling or quivering, especially one caused by emotion; a frisson.
figurative
A cause of sudden excitement; a kick.
A breathing place or hole; a nostril, as of a bird.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B2 · Upper Intermediate
- Frequency
- Moderately Common
- Typical Use
- Neutral / general English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: (ergative) To suddenly excite someone, or to give someone great pleasure; to (figuratively) electrify; to experience such a sensation.
Used this way, thrill is a reasonably familiar word with a mildly favourable edge. It carries more force than its gentler alternatives. It sounds natural in ordinary conversation and in expressive writing alike.
- Emotional tone
- Slightly positive
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Strong
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Sudden and forceful
- Usage feel
- Everyday but emotionally strong
Nearby words
- shiver , a specialist term, precise but narrower
- exhilarate , rarer, so it draws attention
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use thrill
- “The children were thrilled at the prospect of going to the movies.”verb
- “He was thrilled by the speed and the roar of the engine.”verb
- “The men were thrilled by a loud whistle blow.”verb
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Inflected forms
Grammatical variations of the same word.
A suspenseful adventure story or play or movie.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.