chic
Americanadjective
noun
-
style and elegance, especially in dress.
Paris clothes have such chic.
-
stylishness; modishness.
the chic of the firstnighters.
-
casual and understated style, as in dress or décor, that expresses a specified trendy lifestyle or activity.
Black-rimmed glasses bring some geek chic to your outfit.
adjective
noun
-
stylishness, esp in dress; modishness; fashionable good taste
-
any of various fashion movements based on a particular lifestyle
radical chic
geek chic
Pronunciation
The spelling pronunciation is considered nonstandard except when used facetiously.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of chic
1855–60; < French < German Schick skill
Explanation
Something that's chic is fashionable or stylish. If you see a chic outfit in the window of a chic boutique, you might imagine that buying it will make you as chic as a fashion model. Chic can also be used as an noun to mean a specific type of stylishness or coolness, like a downtown urban chic (skinny jeans, perhaps), or nerdy chic (big glasses). Chic is a French word, so remember, whether it's an adjective or a noun, to pronounce it as “sheek” and not “chick,” so you can sound as chic as you look!
Vocabulary lists containing chic
The Perks of Being a Wallflower
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English Words Derived from French, List 5
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Lucky Broken Girl
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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:
The signage displays a chic Saarinen-drawn typeface that looks like it belongs in Star Trek.
From Slate ● Aug. 18, 2026
The property spans 10,823 square feet and features a grand foyer with black marble columns, an expansive hallway, and a chic fireplace.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 18, 2026
So, the fashion industry responded by making Fecal Matter chic.
From Salon ● Aug. 9, 2026
Dressed in a shabby old coat and chic beret—“a look halfway between woman of mystery and lobster fisher”—Nora aims to thwart a dangerous psychopath while protecting the policeman with whom she’s increasingly smitten.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 5, 2026
He imagined the chic young woman who had been wearing it, who had discarded it to run to safety.
From "Half of a Yellow Sun" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
I think it’s because, with the feel-me walls, the bend-’n-sniff tubes, the claymation-like animated embroideries, it seemed like a grown-up version of the children’s “discovery” gallery, but with much chicer clothes.
From New York Times ● May 9, 2024
Next to last year’s model, this one has a sleeker and chicer vibe.
From The Verge ● Jul. 10, 2020
It was seemingly the end when the designer, Walter Van Beirendonck — himself a large, hirsute Belgian man, a chicer version of Santa Claus — emerged to do his own walk down the runway.
From New York Times ● Sep. 3, 2019
Happy hour at home just got a whole lot chicer, with bar carts popping up in a variety of prices, colors and styles, including modern, minimal and industrial.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 21, 2017
The channel gave you the recipes for being chicer, more alternative, more you; for being gayer, blacker, more confrontational; for being cooler, basically.
From New York Times ● Dec. 21, 2016
Portugal’s chicest beach destination is no longer a secret—but it still feels like one.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 17, 2026
Ahead of Saturday's awards ceremony, AFP brings you some of the chicest and craziest looks, and also the actor who brought a bit of grit to the glamour.
From Barron's ● May 22, 2026
Alongside Berlin-based club DJ MCR-T, and a propulsive synth line from Kylie Minogue’s “Can’t Get You Out of My Head,” the Buenos Aires baddie crafts one of the chicest earworms of the year.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 18, 2025
Carlo Capasa, president of Italy’s fashion chamber, remembered Cerruti as “a great innovator” who was also “one of Italy’s chicest men.”
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 15, 2022
All our chicest stock-jokes and pet patter they mops up, like mugs as they are, For they might cut their own chaff, eh, Charlie? not borrow it all from the bar.
From Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 93. July 30, 1887 by
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.
