chilly
Americanadjective
-
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
Related Words
See cold.
Other Word Forms
- chilliness noun
Etymology
Origin of chilly
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.
A brightly coloured chalk sign informs me that the water temperature today is a chilly 3.9C, as one of the regulars tells me this is not cold water swimming, it's "ice" water swimming.
From BBC
Whenever I fantasise about a couple of hours of uninterrupted relaxation during the chilly winter months, my mind immediately conjures up images of curling up on the sofa with a deliciously good book.
From BBC
Yet beyond warming up these generally chilly proceedings it doesn’t add up to much, ultimately feeling too slight to offer a fulfilling resolution.
On a chilly Friday night in early October, a shoulder-to-shoulder crowd thronged around the stage at Lucinda’s in Manhattan’s East Village.
Soon after, Benjamin was shackled and transported to the chilly downtown Los Angeles ICE facility known as B-18.
From Los Angeles Times
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.
