frisson

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English

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English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia
WOTD – 2 November 2009

Etymology

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Borrowed from French frisson.

Pronunciation

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  • (UK) IPA(key): /ˈfɹiː.sɔ̃ː/
  • (US) IPA(key): /fɹiˈsoʊn/, /fɹiˈsõʊn/
  • Audio (US):(file)
  • Rhymes: (US) -oʊn

Noun

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frisson (plural frissons)

  1. 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.
  2. 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[1], →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

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Anagrams

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French

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Etymology

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Inherited from Late Latin *frīctiōnem, from Latin frīgeō (“to be cold”). Unrelated to the Classical Latin frictiō, borrowed as French friction.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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frisson m (plural frissons)

  1. a shiver caused by cold or fever
  2. a shiver or thrill of fright that can be strangely pleasurable, as when reading good horror fiction
  3. an experience of intense excitement
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Further reading

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Anagrams

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