ASMR

American  

abbreviation

1. autonomous sensory meridian response: a sensory phenomenon that occurs in response to low-volume audio stimuli, comprising a tingling sensation in the scalp, and sometimes including the neck or the back along the spine, along with a trancelike state of deep relaxation.

---

noun

1. a genre of audio or video recording featuring gentle whispers, crinkling paper, tapping fingers, or buzzing sounds that are intended to elicit a pleasurable or relaxing autonomous sensory meridian response.

   I go to sleep every night listening to ASMR now.

Etymology

Origin of ASMR

First recorded in 2010–15; by abbreviation

Example Sentences

It is a kitchen of clicks and clacks, of ASMR, of packets ripped open and weekly restock hauls.

From Slate

It could be good for my nervous system actually, because I’m watching ASMR.

From Los Angeles Times

But as she watched ASMR’s popularity grow, she saw potential for the kind of content she’d always wanted to see.

From Los Angeles Times

When the pandemic hit in 2020, she finally had the time to act, launching Friends with ASMR.

From Los Angeles Times

Her treatments bring ASMR, short for autonomous sensory meridian response, into the physical world through intentionally gentle touch: back scratches with metal finger extensions, face tracing with feather-tipped wands, and subtle, soothing sounds that come from these careful movements across skin and through hair.

From Los Angeles Times