Literary notes about thrill (AI summary)
In literature the word "thrill" functions as a versatile vehicle for conveying intense, often contradictory emotions. At times it signifies an unbridled surge of joyous passion—as when a character experiences sheer, unrestrained delight in youth [1] or feels a subtle, stirring excitement in response to a gentle word [2]. In other instances the term marks a sudden, electrifying brush with terror or profound remorse, imbuing moments with a sense of impending transformation [3] [4]. Whether highlighting the delicate tension of a shifted musical note [5] or the shock of an unexpected revelation [6], "thrill" encapsulates a fleeting yet powerful sensory experience that enriches the narrative by tapping into the complex interplay of emotion and physical response [7] [8].
- He would thrill as a child with the unhindered passion that was in him.
— from Sister Carrie: A Novel by Theodore Dreiser - I felt a thrill while I answered him; but no coldness, and no faintness.
— from Jane Eyre: An Autobiography by Charlotte Brontë - The voice of Menicuccio’s sister sent a thrill through me, and I fancied that the blind must fall in love through their sense of hearing.
— from The Memoirs of Jacques Casanova de Seingalt, 1725-1798. Complete by Giacomo Casanova - And before nightfall, too, a thrill of horror went through the whole watching nervous countryside.
— from The Invisible Man: A Grotesque Romance by H. G. Wells - When the strain passed into the minor, she half started from her seat with the sudden thrill of that change.
— from The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot - He put a hand up over his shoulder and felt his back, and a great thrill shot through him.
— from The Gilded Age: A Tale of Today by Mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warner - no more shall my attention be ravished with the music of that voice, which used to thrill in soft vibrations to my soul!
— from The Adventures of Ferdinand Count Fathom — Complete by T. Smollett - There was a thrill in the doctor’s voice which showed that he was himself deeply moved by that which he told us.
— from The Hound of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Doyle
