thrilling

adjective

thrill·​ing ˈthri-liŋ 

: causing a feeling of great excitement or happiness

a thrilling discovery

a thrilling performance

… flashes into the end zone to give the Rams the winning touchdown in the most thrilling Super Bowl finish ever.

—Rick Reilly

thrillingly

ˈthri-liŋ-lē 

adverb

Who, in fact, are the good guys and who are the bad guys in the dramas that unfold here so thrillingly?

—Marie Winn

… this is a powerful and thrillingly strange movie …

—Terrence Rafferty

Synonyms

• breathtaking
• charged
• electric
• electrifying
• exciting
• exhilarating
• exhilarative
• galvanic
• galvanizing
• hair-raising
• heart-stopping
• inspiring
• intoxicating
• kicky
• mind-bending
• mind-blowing
• mind-boggling
• rip-roaring
• rousing
• stimulating
• stirring

Examples of thrilling in a Sentence

a thrilling adventure movie

Recent Examples on the Web

While there are so many things to love about shopping at Costco year-round, there's something even more thrilling about shopping at the members-only store during the holidays. —Jenna Sims, Southern Living, 29 Nov. 2024

Listen to this article MAUI – The UConn men’s basketball team lost a thrilling, foul-laden overtime game to Memphis in its first game of the Maui Invitational, 99-97 on Monday. —Joe Arruda, Hartford Courant, 26 Nov. 2024

Stuffing: Even with Sunday’s overtime triumph over the Dallas Mavericks, Miami hasn’t been the most thrilling watch at 7-7. —Steven Louis Goldstein, The Athletic, 25 Nov. 2024

There’s no doubt that KTM produces some of the most thrilling motorcycles on the road and off, but this situation is proof that bad supply-chain decisions and lax quality control can land you in murky waters. —New Atlas, 24 Nov. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1768, in the meaning defined above