chalet

American  

[sha-ley, shal-ey, shah-le] / ʃæˈleɪ, ˈʃæl eɪ, ʃɑˈlɛ /

noun

plural

chalets

1. a herdsman's hut in the Swiss Alps.

2. a kind of farmhouse, low and with wide eaves, common in Alpine regions.

3. any cottage, house, ski lodge, etc., built in this style.

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chalet British  

/ ˈʃæleɪ, ʃalɛ /

noun

1. a type of wooden house of Swiss origin, typically low, with wide projecting eaves

2. a similar house used esp as a ski lodge, garden house, etc

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Etymology

Origin of chalet

1810–20; < French, SwissF, equivalent to *chale shelter (cognate with Old Provençal cala cove ¹ ) + -et -et

Explanation

A chalet is a style of house that's mainly found in the Swiss Alps. Most chalets are made of wood and have a very wide, heavy roof that slopes down. You might think of a chalet as a house you stay in during a ski vacation. Although chalets were originally the modest huts or cottages that Alpine herders lived in, over time the area became popular with skiers and vacationers, and chalet came to mean "mountainside holiday home." In Swiss-French, chalet means "herdsman's hut" or "Alpine cottage," from the Old French word chasel, "farmhouse."

Example Sentences

It thereafter remained obscured by fencing, seemingly derelict, until the chalet was handed a lifeline.

From BBC • Apr. 7, 2026

The games will be set in “a luxury chalet in Park City, Utah, with contestants asked to complete a series of “mental and physical challenges over four days,” according to Variety.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 31, 2026

I don’t mean she naps back at a cozy chalet or even the back seat of a team van.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 3, 2026

Winter finds them in a chalet up a snowy mountain, with a return to the lake house for circular closure.

From Los Angeles Times • May 1, 2025

It was one of those enormous mountain chalet getaway thingies, with huge windows and logs and stuff.

From "From Twinkle, with Love" by Sandhya Menon

Related Words

• cabin
• hut