[Fr.; of echoic formation.] A rustling, esp. the rustling of a dress.
1870. Athenæum, 4 June, 734. The modern frou-frou of satin and gros-de-Naples skirts is nothing to the rustling of brocaded silks.
1871. M. Collins, Mrq. & Merch., III. v. 155. With a frou-frou of soft silk she arose from her seat, and moved in an undulating attitude towards Mowbray.
1891. Speaker, 2 May, 527/1. The rustle of the dresses, the frou-frou of the fans.
fig. 1876. Besant & Rice, Gold. Butterfly, I. vi. 108. She did not understand the mystery with which women enwrap themselves, partly working on the imagination of youth, and partly through their love of secluded talk—a remnant of barbaric times, and a proof of the subjection of the sex; the frou-frou of life was lost to her.
1883. Ouida, Wanda, II. 4. The Princess fretted for some little frou-frou of the world to break its solemn silence.
