frisson
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English
Etymology
Pronunciation
- (UK) IPA(key): /ˈfɹiː.sɔ̃ː/
- (US) IPA(key): /fɹiˈsoʊn/, /fɹiˈsõʊn/
Audio (US) (file) - Rhymes: (US) -oʊn
Noun
frisson (plural frissons)
- A sudden surge of excitement.
- I felt a frisson just as they were about to announce the winner in my category.
- 1989, Greil Marcus, Lipstick Traces, Faber & Faber, published 2009:
- As a perversion of freedom it was, like any perversion, erotic; as alienation it carried the frisson of having just missed the brass ring, a sensation that always brought one back for more.
- A shiver; a thrill.
- Whenever the villain's theme played in the movie I felt a sudden frisson down my back.
- 2008 November 5, Charles McGrath, “Builder of Windup Realms That Thrillingly Run Amok”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:
- All the Crichton books depend to a certain extent on a little frisson of fear and suspense: that’s what kept you turning the pages.
Translations
a sudden surge of excitement
a shiver
Anagrams
French
Etymology
Inherited from Late Latin *frīctiōnem, from Latin frīgeō (“to be cold”). Unrelated to the Classical Latin frictiō, borrowed as French friction.
Pronunciation
Noun
frisson m (plural frissons)
- a shiver or thrill of fright that can be strangely pleasurable, as when reading good horror fiction
- an experience of intense excitement
Related terms
Further reading
- “frisson”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé , 2012.