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

On Saturday, his contributions moved to the forefront of a thrilling comeback. —Ben Bolch, Los Angeles Times, 15 Dec. 2024

At one point leading 2-0 and managing to equalize after Rodrygo scored to make it 3-2, however, Rayo did Barca a huge favor by holding the reigning champions to a thrilling 3-3 draw. —Tom Sanderson, Forbes, 15 Dec. 2024

Buffalo is coming off a thrilling defeat to the Los Angeles Rams in the season’s highest scoring contest so far, a game in which quarterback Josh Allen made history with six touchdowns to his name: three passing and three rushing. —Ben Morse, CNN, 15 Dec. 2024

The most thrilling possibility for fans, however, is the return of Charlotte Flair. —Stephan Pechdimaldji, Newsweek, 14 Dec. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1768, in the meaning defined above