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Frisson and Shiver
A chill down one’s spine isn’t always a sensation of fear or suspense. As Daniel Marenco writes, “What is most exciting about literature is how much it surprises us and makes us fall in love. Poetry especially has this gift, the gift of provoking in us a frisson, a shiver, this capacity, like a bee, to put honey on the tip of our tongue, provoking that pleasant sensation of feeling and perceiving.” His relating of frisson and shiver is apt given that frisson comes from the French word for “shiver.” (Those familiar with shivering will note that it’s also apt that frisson traces back to ultimately to Late Latin frīgēre “to be cold” or frīgēscere “to become cold.”) A frisson can be compared to a thrill or a rush, as it refers to a brief moment of emotional excitement, as in “a frisson of surprise.”
Examples of frisson in a Sentence
Greg Evans, Deadline, 19 May 2025
In today’s newsletter: Why Cannes still flexes in a chaotic industry
How to roll with the chaos without losing your cool
Why hustling beats clinging to the past
This year, Cannes will have an extra frisson of, uh, excitement thanks to Trump’s tariff tantrum and the vibe toward Americans in general.
—Dana Harris-Bridson, IndieWire, 12 May 2025
Its background, a pale yellow gradient, still gives me a slight frisson, like a Playboy issue hidden under the bed.
—Kyle Chayka, New Yorker, 30 Apr. 2025
And yet there was little news in it, beyond the frisson of excitement at the beginning when Al Green, a Texas Democrat, was thrown out of the chamber for protesting.
—Susan B. Glasser, The New Yorker, 5 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for frisson
Cite this Entry
“Frisson.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/frisson. Accessed 1 Jun. 2025.
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