chalet
Americannoun
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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.
Italian actor Sophia Loren had a chalet on Burgenstock mountain -- now the site of its Persian restaurant -- while queen Ingrid of Denmark was among the hotel's visitors.
From Barron's • Jun. 21, 2026
Italian actor Sophia Loren had a chalet on the Burgenstock -- now the site of its Persian restaurant -- while queen Ingrid of Denmark was among the hotel's visitors.
From Barron's • Jun. 16, 2026
There was an instant attraction between the two, and Longet relocated to Aspen, Colo., and ultimately moved into the pro skier’s ritzy Starwood chalet around 1975.
From Los Angeles Times • May 15, 2026
Planning permission has been recently granted for a farm shop and deli to make the chalet its home, with the owners hoping to revitalise one of the Isle of Man's beloved beauty spots.
From BBC • Apr. 7, 2026
Outside, in front of the chalet a road went up the mountain.
From "A Farewell To Arms" by Ernest Hemingway
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.
