frisson
Americannoun
-
frissons
plural
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of frisson
First recorded in 1770–80; from French: “shiver, shudder,” Old French friçons (plural), from Late Latin frictiōnem, accusative of frictiō “shiver” (taken as derivative of frīgēre “to be cold”), from Latin: “massage, friction”; see also friction
Explanation
A frisson is a thrilling shiver. Some people love roller coasters so much that they feel a frisson of excitement just looking at one. You're just as likely to feel a frisson whether you're scared or excited; its meaning lies directly between thrill and fear. When you hear a scary sound in the basement late at night, and open the door to investigate, you might feel a frisson of fear as you start to descend the steps. The Latin root is frigere, "to be cold," and while a frisson is certainly shivery, its source is a thrill rather than a chill.
Vocabulary lists containing frisson
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
“I was in love with the frisson of transgression,” said Anna, one of the disillusioned former believers profiled in Sam Adler-Bell’s March 2026 investigation “The women leaving the new right.”
From Salon ● Jul. 27, 2026
Again, this is presumably meant to add a frisson of topical ambiguity to the play’s happy ending.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 17, 2025
It arrived at a time when “hackers” and “black boxes” were still terms that gave off a sexy frisson.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 16, 2025
A further frisson came from the sight of Mark Wood training with England at Lord's on Wednesday, stepping up his comeback from a knee injury.
From BBC ● Jul. 9, 2025
The process frequently sent a frisson of excitement up Dimple’s spine.
From "When Dimple Met Rishi" by Sandhya Menon
Those thematic elements give “Tár” its frissons of resonance and ambiguity, with Lydia making a persuasive case for separating art from the artist.
From Washington Post ● Oct. 12, 2022
But despite their world champion status, they’re not and have never been as good as they should be, generating frissons of electricity in list form and paroxysms of apathy in pitch form.
From The Guardian ● Oct. 10, 2021
The eight highlights that follow, selected by The New York Times’s chief film critics, Manohla Dargis and A. O. Scott, generate sparks of originality and frissons of insight and surprise.
From New York Times ● Mar. 21, 2017
They may not all have literally stopped the show—often the fault of a malfunctioning set piece—but they offered, in one way or another, frissons of the sublime.
From The New Yorker ● Dec. 17, 2015
The vocal line is melodic and ranges from pretty to the sublime, evoking occasional frissons even from gray-haired opera goers who have long outgrown fairy tales.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 23, 2012
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
