frisson

Etymology

Borrowed from French frisson.

noun

  1. A sudden surge of excitement.
    I felt a frisson just as they were about to announce the winner in my category.
    As a perversion of freedom it was, like any perversion, erotic; as alienation it carried the frisson of having just missed the brass ring, a sensation that always brought one back for more. 1989, Greil Marcus, Lipstick Traces, Faber & Faber, published 2009
  2. A shiver; a thrill.
    Whenever the villain's theme played in the movie I felt a sudden frisson down my back.
    All the Crichton books depend to a certain extent on a little frisson of fear and suspense: that’s what kept you turning the pages. 2008-11-05, Charles McGrath, “Builder of Windup Realms That Thrillingly Run Amok”, in The New York Times, →ISSN

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