frizz
/fɹɪz/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: 2.40 in modern English
26
Scrabble Score
5
Letters
1
Syllables
4
Unique Chars
Meaning
verb
To make (leather) soft and of even thickness by rubbing, as with pumice stone or a blunt instrument.
Example Sentences
- "with her hair frized short up to her ears"
- "In labour-saving homes, with care, / Their wives frizz out peroxide hair."
- "There was also hairdressing: hairdressing, too, really was hairdressing in those times — no running a comb through it and that was that. It was curled, frizzed, waved, put in curlers overnight, waved with hot tongs; […]"
Etymology
From Middle English frysen, from Old French friser, frizer (“to frizzle, crisp, curl, ruffle, braid, touch lightly, graze, scratch”), of Proto-Germanic origin, perhaps via Old Frankish *fris (“curl”), from Proto-Germanic *frisaz (“frizzy, curly”). Cognate with Old Frisian frisle, frēsle ("the hair of the head, lock of hair, curl, ringlet"; > North Frisian friessle, fressle (“hair, horse's tail”), West Frisian frisseljen (“braid of hair, braid”)), Old English frīs (“crisped, curled”).