shilling shocker

noun

A cheap paperback book produced for the mass market in 19th-century Britain, often consolidating twelve to fifteen episodes of a serial novel whose chapters had previously been published separately as penny dreadful pamphlets, and typically focused on crime and violence.

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Meanings

nounshilling shocker (plural shilling shockers)

plural shilling shockers

  1. UKhistoricalA cheap paperback book produced for the mass market in 19th-century Britain, often consolidating twelve to fifteen episodes of a serial novel whose chapters had previously been published separately as penny dreadful pamphlets, and typically focused on crime and violence.

Origin

From the price of one shilling, and the shocking content.

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Cite this entry
APA

shilling shocker. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/shilling%20shocker

MLA

“shilling shocker.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/shilling%20shocker. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “shilling shocker,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/shilling%20shocker.

Source: shilling shocker on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.