Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
roller-coasterish

roller-coasterish

8.8
Full of sudden changes between excitement and calm
  • adjective
  • /ˈroʊlər ˈkoʊstərɪʃ/
  • Informal
: montaña rusa
  • This has been a roller-coasterish experience for me.

Examples

  • The film's roller-coasterish plot kept audiences on the edge of their seats.

  • Critics praised the novel for its roller-coasterish twists and emotional highs and lows.

  • Her life took a roller-coasterish turn after moving to a new city.

  • What a roller-coasterish ride!

  • Critics praised the novel for its roller-coasterish twists and emotional highs and lows.

  • The film's roller-coasterish plot kept audiences on the edge of their seats.

  • Her life took a roller-coasterish turn after moving to a new city.

Synonyms

volatile
vsroller-coasterish
106 7.0

Likely to change suddenly and become more dangerous

is dramatic but focuses on alternating excitement and calm rather than danger
fluctuating
vsroller-coasterish
6 6.1

Changing up and down often in a way you cannot guess

is more dramatic with big swings between excitement and calm

Antonyms

uniformity
  • Specialized
17 4.6

The state of being the same in all parts

predictability
17 3.3

How much you can know about what will happen next

How Dramatic

chaotic
116 4.7
tumultuous
34 7.5
roller-coasterish
  • Informal
8.8
calm
680 1.0

Surface Forms

roller-coasterish positive

Morphology

roller-coasterish = roller coaster (transparent) = roller + coaster + ish

The adjective is formed by adding the productive suffix '-ish' to the compound 'roller coaster' and clearly means 'like a roller coaster' (i.e., characterized by dramatic ups and downs).

Etymology

Roller-coasterish comes from the amusement ride roller coaster and the ending -ish, which means 'like'. Think of a ride with sudden ups and downs, so roller-coasterish describes a story or life with dramatic 'highs and lows'.