froideur

English

Etymology

Borrowed from French froideur (literally “coldness”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fɹwɑːˈdɜː(ɹ)/, /fwɑːˈdɜː(ɹ)/
• Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)

Noun

froideur (usually uncountable, plural froideurs)

1. A cold or indifferent manner.
2. A chill in relations.

   Synonyms: antipathy, hostility

   • 2001, Ron Chernow, The House of Morgan‎^[1], →ISBN, page 548:

     "There was a froideur between the Bank of England and the Swiss central bank for some time," recalled Collins.

   • 2021 May 7, Barrett Swanson, “The Anxiety of Influencers”, in Harper's Magazine‎^[2]:

     When I look over at Chase […] he stares back at Baron with such withering froideur that he resembles one of those Dust Bowl farmers in a Dorothea Lange portrait.

   • 2026 January 24, Janan Ganesh, “A liberal in illiberal times”, in FT Weekend, Life & Arts, page 20:

     But anyone who thinks this is a time of unusual froideur between citizen and citizen either misremembers the past or didn't live through it.

French

Etymology

From froid +‎ -eur. Compare Catalan fredor, Spanish frior.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fʁwa.dœʁ/ ~ /fʁwɑ.dœʁ/

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

froideur f (plural froideurs)

1. coldness, cold

   Synonym: froidure

Descendants

• → English: froideur

Further reading

• “froideur”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012