chilly
Americanadjective
-
chillier,
comparative
-
chilliest
superlative
-
mildly cold or producing a sensation of cold; causing shivering; chill.
a chilly breeze.
-
feeling cold; sensitive to cold.
Her hands were chilly.
-
without warmth of feeling; cool.
a chilly reply.
-
producing or likely to produce a feeling of fear; frightening.
He told a chilly story of ghosts and murder.
adverb
adjective
-
causing or feeling cool or moderately cold
-
without warmth; unfriendly
-
(of people) sensitive to cold
Synonym Usage
See cold.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Adjectives
Etymology
Origin of chilly
Explanation
Did someone leave a window open? It's chilly in here! That word means "cold," and it can also mean that someone's acting in a frosty way. The main meaning of chilly is cold, but this word is often used for emotions too, just like "warm." A warm person is loving and kind, but a chilly person is unemotional, distant, and quiet. Chilly people are often called "aloof" — another word for someone who's not acting like a people person. "After you turned them in for cheating on their homework, they gave you a chilly reception."
Vocabulary lists containing chilly
Wintry Words
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Chill Out! Synonyms for "Cold"
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Sula
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
On a chilly Saturday morning in December 1976, postman Nigel Rossiter pulled up outside the isolated Ffynon Samson farmhouse in west Wales.
From BBC ● Aug. 6, 2026
Yasmina, by contrast, who grows up to be an economic consultant, exists in a world of chilly blue-gray conference rooms and soporific slide shows.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 2026
Despite chilly temperatures, dozens of people gathered in Ballard and its bars to celebrate diversity.
From Barron's ● Jun. 27, 2026
I noted the fatherly tone — and realized I probably seemed wasteful for resisting the chilly stream during a drought.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 19, 2026
It had been chilly on his ride to school that morning, and he knew that winter would soon drop over the Bay.
From "Anger Is a Gift" by Mark Oshiro
Ads on “cooler screens,” i.e., digital ads projected on the doors of refrigerated cases in supermarkets, get a much chillier reception, with 41% of respondents viewing them negatively, the report found.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 17, 2026
Although much of Southern California is too warm for the fruit, Leona Valley sits at about 3,500 feet elevation, giving it chillier winter nights.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 19, 2026
With spooky season in full swing, curating fall vibes is essential to truly enjoying our chillier months.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 27, 2025
Lately, though, the dynamic between Jackson and Gorsuch—on the bench and in opinions—has grown chillier, a trend that Stanley confirms.
From Slate ● Jun. 23, 2025
Air temperature falls by about 2.5°F with every thousand feet of elevation, so it would have been chillier at this height anyway, but now it was positively uncomfortable.
From "A Walk in the Woods" by Bill Bryson
The actress asked Wintour what she thought of her dress, to which Wintour put on her shades—and her chilliest tone—and said, “And the nominees are.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 16, 2026
The chilliest, darkest place in the unseen ocean of the soul.
From Salon ● Mar. 22, 2025
The UK suffered its chilliest night in almost two years last night and there's no sign of the cold snap easing yet.
From BBC ● Dec. 13, 2022
He arrived in China last week with a decade’s worth of experience as an elite moguls skier, competing in some of the chilliest places on the planet.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 7, 2022
I have known likings to be colored as rosily as love, and seen what called itself love as cold as the chilliest liking.
From The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 05, No. 28, February, 1860 by Various
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
