verb
thrill
A sudden feeling of excitement, pleasure, or fear.
Where it comes from
Thrill ordinarily means a sudden feeling of excitement, pleasure, or fear. Thrill developed by rearrangement of sounds from Middle English thirlen, to pierce or penetrate, from Old English thyrlian. That verb came from thyrel, a hole, itself related to Old English thurh, through. Physical penetration became an image for emotion that pierced or moved someone deeply.
How the meaning developed
The word then emphasized the shiver or tingling caused by sudden feeling, and finally the pleasurable excitement now called a thrill.
Sources
Definitions adapted from Open English WordNet where applicable. License and attribution. Word-history text comes from Lexifour’s sourced social research; pages are assembled automatically, not individually fact-checked on every update.
Updated 2026-10-05. Report a correction.