Frisson
noun /free-SOHN/ — A sudden shudder of emotion or excitement — the physical thrill that beauty produces.
Definition
A sudden, passing shudder of emotion or excitement — the physical thrill that runs through your body in response to beauty, fear, or anticipation. The involuntary shiver that tells you something extraordinary is about to happen or has just happened.
Beyond the definition
Frisson is the body's involuntary verdict on beauty. It doesn't ask your opinion. It happens before you've had time to analyse. The opening chord of a piece of music. A line in a poem that perfectly names something you've always felt. The moment a performance becomes transcendent. Your body knows first, and frisson is how it tells you.
Origin & history
From Latin frictio (to shiver), via French frisson (shiver, thrill). English usage from the 18th century. One of the few French loanwords so precisely useful that English adopted it whole.
Example sentences
Illustrative sentences for learning, not verified community posts or sourced quotations.
The opening chord sent a frisson through the audience — that involuntary shiver that tells you something extraordinary is about to happen.
She got a frisson reading the last line — the body's way of saying yes, that's exactly right.
Frisson is the test I apply to everything I create. If it doesn't give me a frisson, it isn't done.
How to use it
This entry uses a noun. Follow the examples for articles and singular or plural forms; not every noun takes “a” or “an.”
Choose “Frisson” when the meaning fits your context: A sudden, passing shudder of emotion or excitement — the physical thrill that runs through your body in response to beauty, fear, or anticipation. The involuntary shiver that tells you something extraordinary is about to happen or has just happened.
Synonyms
shiver of excitement, aesthetic thrill, the chills
Antonyms
numbness, indifference, flat response
Related words
Word in the Wild
Illustrative story: an imagined scene, not a documented event or interview.
The piece of music was not obviously emotional. It was fast, technically demanding, played in a minor key that most people would call merely interesting.
But something in the second movement — a particular chord change, a brief modulation she couldn't have predicted — ran through her like cold water.
She looked around, half-expecting others to have noticed. A few had. She could tell from the particular quality of their stillness: held breath, a slight suspension of the ordinary. This is the strange democracy of the involuntary: it chooses you, not the other way around.
Questions about this word
What does "Frisson" mean?
Frisson is noun meaning: A sudden shudder of emotion or excitement — the physical thrill that beauty produces.. A sudden, passing shudder of emotion or excitement — the physical thrill that runs through your body in response to beauty, fear, or anticipation. The involuntary shiver that tells you something extraordinary is about to happen or has just happened.
Which words express “moved by something in a way you can't explain”?
Frisson — A sudden shudder of emotion or excitement — the physical thrill that beauty produces.
Where does the word "Frisson" come from?
From Latin frictio (to shiver), via French frisson (shiver, thrill). English usage from the 18th century. One of the few French loanwords so precisely useful that English adopted it whole.