chinwag

American

[chin-wag] / ˈtʃɪnˌwæg /

verb (used without object)

chinwagged, chinwagging

to chat idly; gossip.

noun

an idle chat; gossiping.

chinwag British

/ ˈtʃɪnˌwæɡ /

noun

informal a chat or gossipy conversation

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of chinwag

First recorded in 1875–80; chin + wag

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.

It got quite deep for a glitzy award show chinwag.

From BBC • Feb. 28, 2026

Is it a grand intellectual battle, or just an insiders’ chinwag?

From New York Times • Mar. 13, 2024

Pep Guardiola has been having a pre-match chinwag with Sandbanks’ Harry Redknapp, a regular in the stands at his former club.

From The Guardian • Aug. 25, 2019

My first comment today concerns not the comments of the other contributors to this Slate chinwag, but rather Linda Greenhouse’s New York Times op-ed Thursday about the Supreme Court’s cellphone decision, Riley v.

From Slate • Jun. 30, 2014

Jack and Derek Branning having a friendly chinwag on EastEnders.

From The Guardian • Jan. 12, 2013

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023