Adjacent Words

frisson definitions

	Tweet

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: an almost pleasurable sensation of fright; "a frisson of surprise shot through him" [syn: frisson, shiver, chill, quiver, shudder, thrill, tingle]

Merriam Webster's

noun (plural frissons) Etymology: French, shiver, from Old French friçon, from Late Latin friction-, frictio, from Latin, literally, friction (taken in Late Latin as derivative of frig?re to be cold) Date: 1777 a brief moment of emotional excitement ; shudder, thrill <produce a genuine frisson of disquiet — Patricia Craig>

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. an emotional thrill. Etymology: F, = shiver

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(frissons) A frisson is a short, sudden feeling of excitement or fear. (LITERARY) A frisson of apprehension rippled round the theatre. N-COUNT: usu with supp, oft N of n