jouissance

American  

[zhwee-sahnns] / ʒwi sɑ̃ns /

noun

French

1. pleasure; enjoyment.

   The chef’s original impulse for jouissance in food, as well as in life, came from his parents, who were always cooking and experimenting with different flavors.

2. the use or exercise of a right, especially property rights.

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Etymology

Origin of jouissance

First recorded in 1480–90; from Old French, equivalent to jouiss-, stem of jouir “to enjoy” + -ance ( def. )

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

jouissance

But beyond the exclusive entrée, Coppola — only on her third feature, but already known for her affinity for youth culture — would bring Marie Antoinette a jouissance the history books had never afforded her.

From Salon ● Oct. 20, 2026

Instead of plaisir, it offers jouissance – the part of enjoyment that’s closer to pain.

From The Guardian ● Dec. 24, 2019

Well, Martin Scorsese, for one – a film-maker whose appeal emerges from an extraordinary blend of plaisir and jouissance both.

From The Guardian ● Dec. 24, 2019

Meanwhile, fifty years after the death of the author was announced and a century after Eliot’s belated obituary for Romanticism, “Tradition” still pulses with energy and life, what the poststructuralists would have called jouissance.

From The New Yorker ● Oct. 27, 2019

"But you are all wrong in your jouissance."

From The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 06, No. 38, December, 1860 by Various

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