grisette

American  

[gri-zet] / grɪˈzɛt /

noun

1. a young French workingwoman.

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grisette British  

/ ɡrɪˈzɛt /

noun

1. (esp formerly) a French working-class girl, esp a pretty or flirtatious one

2. an edible toadstool of the genus Amanita of broad-leaved and birch woods

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Other Word Forms

• grisettish adjective

Etymology

Origin of grisette

1690–1700; < French, equivalent to gris gray ( griseous ) + -ette -ette; originally a cheap gray fabric, or dress made of such fabric, worn by young working women in the garment trade

Example Sentences

Anne Hathaway, who plays the fallen grisette Fantine, first saw the musical at age 8, when her mother appeared in a touring production.

From Slate • Dec. 24, 2012

You may, like Twain, have signally failed to track down a single grisette in Paris: "For three or four days I was constantly saying, 'Quick Fergusson, is that a grisette?' and he always said no."

From The Guardian • Mar. 5, 2011

Nunziata should not be left in tears again, nor again be driven to the little brazier of coke, like a love-sick grisette....

From The Devourers by Chartres, Annie Vivanti

My grisette wanted to go to the Jardin des Plantes.

From Fr?d?rique; vol. 1 by Kock, Charles Paul de

Locked herself up with a brazier of coke, like a love-sick grisette.

From The Devourers by Chartres, Annie Vivanti