Frisson

(pronounced free-soh^N. Note that the ^N does not represent a consonant, and the oh is nasalized. Thus, the second syllable here rhymes with "bon" in the French word "bonjour.") noun

Definition

a brief moment of intense excitement, delight, repugnance, or fear; a shudder or thrill.

Main Example

"We have breaking news... a gunman entered (such and such restaurant, church, shopping mall, or school) and reportedly shot several people before killing himself..." News announcements such as this must be sending a frisson through millions of Americans who, like this author, are disgusted and indignant at Congress's impotence when it comes to enacting commonsensical gun laws, despite the stunning regularity of such horrific events in recent years--sometimes as many as five or six in a single week!

Workplace Examples

So, how did your employees react when you announced that the year-end bonus will be almost twice the amount everyone was expecting? Did it send a frisson of joy or excitement through everyone?
It was such a creepy sight that just thinking about it gives me the shudders--what the French call frisson!

Other Examples

a colleague saying: "Before sending an email to any of the bigwigs, I review it thoroughly. Even then, just as I'm pressing the send button, a frisson of apprehension goes through me--there is that constant fear that I may have written something really dumb."
during a critical inning of the 2003 National League Championship Series, the interception of a foul ball by a souvenir-seeking fan producing a frisson of dismay among the Chicago Cubs' fans
President Bush's surprise appearance at a Thanksgiving Day gathering of U.S. troops in Iraq arousing a frisson of delight among all those who had assembled in the Bob Hope Dining Hall at Baghdad International Airport
on that fateful morning of Sept. 11, 2001, the frisson of horror that engulfed millions of television viewers as the first World Trade Center tower started to collapse