white-knuckle

adjective

white-knuck·le ˈ(h)wīt-ˈnə-kəl

variants or less commonly white-knuckled

ˈ(h)wīt-ˈnə-kəld

: marked by, causing, or experiencing tense nervousness

a white-knuckle ride on a roller coaster

a white-knuckle passenger

white-knuckler

ˈ(h)wīt-ˈnə-k(ə-)lər

noun

plural white-knucklers

The 65-mile speedway connecting Vancouver and the mountain town of Whistler was a white-knuckler for decades. —

Christian DeBenedetti

Examples of white-knuckle in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Mozer tells the Nova massacre story as a white-knuckle action thriller, interviewing about a dozen survivors of the attack — all of whom are in their 20s — to detail their fear, pain and, to an extent, their hopes for the future. —

Kevin Dolak, The Hollywood Reporter, 23 Sep. 2024 Deaver and Maldonado have crafted a white-knuckle ride, although its forward momentum is undercut at times by overexplaining in clumps of exposition rather than allowing the reader to catch up more organically. —

Paula L. Woods, Los Angeles Times, 18 Sep. 2024 Be prepared to white-knuckle a lot of the process, but don’t be afraid to jump in. —

Henry Chen, Forbes, 3 Sep. 2024 If Star Wars represented childlike joy and rollicking adventure, Alien was a bleak and brutal meditation on white-knuckle suspense and gory body horror. —

Chris Nashawaty, WIRED, 30 July 2024 See all Example Sentences for white-knuckle

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'white-knuckle.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.