Definition of "frisson"

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

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 November 5, Charles McGrath, “Builder of Windup Realms That Thrillingly Run Amok”, in The New York Times‎