chalet
Americannoun
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chalets
plural
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a herdsman's hut in the Swiss Alps.
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a kind of farmhouse, low and with wide eaves, common in Alpine regions.
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any cottage, house, ski lodge, etc., built in this style.
noun
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a type of wooden house of Swiss origin, typically low, with wide projecting eaves
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a similar house used esp as a ski lodge, garden house, etc
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
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."
Vocabulary lists containing chalet
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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:
Harmont & Blaine sponsored a chalet on the edge of the Olympic slopes in the resort of Cortina and used photos of the nearby Olympic rings to advertise a collection on social media.
From Barron's ● Jul. 17, 2026
It thereafter remained obscured by fencing, seemingly derelict, until the chalet was handed a lifeline.
From BBC ● Apr. 7, 2026
It may come as a surprise to visitors to the Isle of Man to find nestled in a valley of waterfalls, rivers, and trees, a traditional Swiss style chalet.
From BBC ● Apr. 7, 2026
The iconic French restaurant originally opened downtown in 1927 and relocated to its current chalet on Sunset Boulevard in 1962.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 26, 2026
He created a “memory chalet”—using as his background the layout of the chalet in Switzerland where he stayed on skiing holidays with his parents as a child.
From "Words Like Loaded Pistols" by Sam Leith
Visitors were greeted by security forces in flak jackets, some in military camouflage and others toting submachine guns, scattered amid a landscape of green pastures, wooden chalets and snowy peaks.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 21, 2026
Wooden chalets lining the street offer winter treats from mulled wine and toasted marshmallows to melty raclette cheese on potatoes.
From BBC ● Jul. 30, 2025
Beside the springs are cozy cedar chalets to make the hot spring visits convenient.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 23, 2024
You can make it a base for your visits or stay in the hot springs chalets.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 23, 2024
The work camps and chalets, the schools and study centers, were never built.
From "A Walk in the Woods" by Bill Bryson
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
