Thrilling

How to spell thrilling

9 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce thrilling

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does thrilling mean?

1. adjectiveProducing a sudden, intense rush of excitement or pleasure.

Thrilling in a sentence

• The final lap of the race was absolutely thrilling to watch.

• She described the rollercoaster as the most thrilling ride in the park.

Where does thrilling come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This word grows from the verb 'thrill', which began life in Old English as 'thyrlian', meaning literally 'to pierce' or 'to bore a hole through'. That verb came from 'thyrel', an Old English noun for a hole or opening; the very same root survives, surprisingly, inside the word 'nostril', which was originally 'nose-thyrel', the hole of the nose. By the late medieval period the idea of piercing had shifted from physical holes to feelings, so that a sharp emotion was said to 'thrill' through someone, as if it had pierced them. From the 1500s onward 'thrill' settled into its modern sense of stirring a rush of excitement, and the present participle 'thrilling' became the adjective for anything that delivers that rush. The doubled 'l' is the main spelling trap, since it comes from adding '-ing' to the short vowel verb 'thrill', which already ends in a double 'l'.

How the word is built

• thrill (pierce, stir with emotion)
• -ing (adjective suffix)