chilling effect
Americannoun
Etymology
Origin of chilling effect
First recorded in 1965–70
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.
“The chilling effect could not only be on films critical of AI, they could be on films critical of all kinds of things that these companies have their tentacles in,” Thompson said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 30, 2026
This had a chilling effect on tech-loving individual investors.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 5, 2026
Still, the mere invocation of license revocation has a powerful chilling effect.
From Salon ● Mar. 17, 2026
She said that exposing sex-crime victims “can also have a chilling effect on other people being willing to come forward.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 15, 2026
But never had a pariah had such a chilling effect on bringers of death.
From "Scythe" by Neal Shusterman
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.
