grisette (grizet)

[F. grisette (= Sp. gri seta = It. grisetto ), a sort of gray fabric (see def. 1), dim. of gris, gray: see grise4.] 1. Originally, a sort of gray woolen fabric, much used for dre es by women of the lower cla es in France: so called from its gray color. Hence -2. A young woman of the working cla ; especially, a young woman employed as a shopgirl, a sewing girl, or a chambermaid: commonly applied by foreigners in Paris to the young women of this cla who are free in their manners on the streets or in the shops. She was working a pair of ruffles as she sat in a low chair, on the far side of the shop. She was the handsomest grisette I ever saw. Sterne, Sentimental Journey. 3. The noctuid moth Acronycta strigosa : an English collectors' name. = Syn. 2. See lorette . grisfult, a . Terrible; dreadful.