chilly
/ˈt͡ʃɪli/
chilly adjective: cold enough to cause discomfort. Also the alternative spelling of chili.
Adjective
chilly (comparative chillier, superlative chilliest)
- Cold enough to cause discomfort.
- […] The Aſparagus grew; but in three or four Years complained, by coming up ſmall; occaſioned by the chilly Effluvia, that proceeded from the Water lodg'd at the bottom of the Pit; […][1733], William Ellis, “The Nature and Improvement of Rye”, in Chiltern and Vale Farming Explained, […], London: Printed for the author […] [a]nd sold by W. Meadows, […]; H. Walthoe, […]; J. Parker...
- The Alps, the woods, and marſhes of the vaſt region of Scandinavia (for I will conſider it in the great) give ſhelter to numbers of quadrupeds unknown to Britain. Thoſe who brave the ſeverity of the extreme north of this country are diſtinguiſhed by the addition of the Lapland name. The Elk, Nº 3...1784, Thomas Pennant, “Quadrupeds of Scandinavia [marginal note]”, in Arctic Zoology, volume I (Introduction; Class I. Quadrupeds.), London: Printed by Henry Hughs, →OCLC, page LXXIV
- Feeling uncomfortably cold.
- I’m getting rather chilly over here – could you shut the window please?
- June 18. Rain'd all Day, and I ſtay'd within. I thought at this Time the Rain felt Cold, and I was ſomething chilly, which I knew was not uſual in that Latitude.1719 May 6 (Gregorian calendar), [Daniel Defoe], The Life and Strange Surprizing Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, […], London: […] W[illiam] Taylor […], →OCLC, page 101
- Distant and cool; unfriendly.
- She gave me a chilly look when I made the suggestion.
- Her smile is chilly—and her beam,
In that time of dreariness, will seem
(So like you gather in your breath)
A portrait taken after death.1829, Edgar Allan Poe, “Tamerlane”, in Al Aaraaf, Tamerlane and Minor Poems
Also used as
chilly is also the alternative spelling of chili.
chilly meaning in Vietnamese
chilly in Vietnamese
- cold enough to cause discomfort
- lạnh, lạnh lẽo
Examples of chilly in a sentence
- There was an earthy savour in the air, a chilly bareness in the place, which associated itself somehow with too much getting up by candle-light, and not too much to eat.1843 December 19, Charles Dickens, “Stave Two. The First of the Three Spirits.”, in A Christmas Carol. […], London: Chapman & Hall, […]...
- Nothing like a slock of cake on a chilly evening, is there?1935, Howard Lindsay, She Loves Me Not: A Comedy in Two Acts: Dramatized from Edward Hope’s Novel, French’s standard library edition, New...
- This will feel like a dream compared to the chilly high temperatures forecast from the mid-Atlantic to New England, where you’ll be lucky to see the mercury in the thermometer climb out of the 40’s.2021 January 16, Derek Van Dam, “Northeast will be wet and chilly while Southern California should sizzle during holiday weekend”, in CNN:
- On the day that RAIL meets Mick Whelan, it's during a particularly chilly cold snap.2025 March 5, Richard Wilcock, “In defence of the train drivers”, in RAIL, number 1030, page 30:
Synonyms of chilly
Forms of chilly
| Adjective | |
|---|---|
| comparative | chillier |
| superlative | chilliest |
| Noun | |
| plural | chillies |
Origin of chilly
From chill + -y. Cognate with Swedish kylig (“chilly”), Norwegian kjølig (“chilly”).
See chili.
Words formed from chilly
- chillily
- chilliness
- chilly bin
- chillybin
- chilly climate
- lay chilly
- unchilly
Phrases with chilly
Words that rhyme with chilly
Questions about chilly
- What does chilly mean?
- Chilly means cold enough to cause discomfort.
- What is chilly in Vietnamese?
- Chilly in Vietnamese is lạnh, lạnh lẽo. See Chilly meaning in Vietnamese.
- How do you use chilly in a sentence?
- There was an earthy savour in the air, a chilly bareness in the place, which associated itself somehow with too much getting up by candle-light, and not too much to eat.
- What part of speech is chilly?
- Chilly is an adjective.
- How do you pronounce chilly?
- Chilly is pronounced /ˈt͡ʃɪli/ (UK).
Words near chilly in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: chilly (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-uk-chilly.ogg, en-au-chilly.ogg.
Cite this entry: “chilly.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/chilly. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.